Oscillatory flow in bifurcating tubes

Respiratory fluid mechanics is characterized by flow through bifurcating, Y-shaped, tubes. Steady flow through such geometries has been studied in detail by several authors. However, the recent widespread use of high frequency mechanical assistance of ventilation has generated interest in unsteady flows. A symmetric, singly branching pipe has been constructed, with its bifurcation shaped to model pulmonary conditions. The form of the bifurcation is based on CAT scans of human tracheal carinas. Its features include an area change of the parent tube from circular to roughly elliptical near the junction, a pinch-off effect on the parent tube, smoothly curved outer walls at the junction, and a sharp flow divider. Parent and daughter tubes have an l/d ratio of > 50, so that entrance effects are avoided. In order to better understand the effects of unsteadiness, piston driven, laminar, purely oscillatory flow has been established in the pipe for a variety of Womersley numbers. By appropriate choices of flow frequency and amplitude, fluid viscosity, and pipe diameter, tracheal Reynolds and Womersley numbers have been matched for resting breathing (tidal volume of 600 ml to 0.25 Hz), high frequency breathing (50 ml at 5 Hz), and intermediate breathing levels