The overall goal of this research was to develop an efficient microfluidic system to study signal transduction in stimulation dynamics. This research applied reactive transport fundamentals in concert with biological systems knowledge to completely understand diffusion of soluble signals, fluid and particle flow properties, and dynamics of cellular responses. First, a device capable of parallel multi-time-point cell stimulation and lysis on-chip was developed in collaboration. Second, to understand flow of cells through complex 3-D flow schemes, a Single-field Three-dimensional Epifluorescence Particle (STEP) imaging technique was developed. Using the STEP imaging technique, we were able to determine particle distributions and track individual particles in complex flow geometries. Third, during the design of the stimulation device it was observed that the cells do not distribute across the channel in the same way as the fluids. Based on the observation that geometry and particle size were most influential factors on particle distribution, it was hypothesized that our earlier observation and all observed phenomena in our experimental range were due to the volume exclusion of particles of finite size near the wall of the complex flow geometry. Overall, this work contributed to the realization of microfluidic platforms as powerful tools for probing areas of biology and medicine that are difficult with existing technology. The high-throughput format enabled simple and fast generation of large sets of quantitative data, with consistent sample handling. We demonstrated the necessary first steps to designing efficient unit operations on cells in microfluidic devices. The model can be used for informed design of unit operations in many applications in the future.

Refrigeration systems employing the NH3-H2O absorption cycle provide cooling using a thermal energy input. This cycle relies on the zeotropic nature of the refrigerant - absorbent pair: because of the difference in boiling temperatures between NH3 and H2O, they can be separated through selective boiling in the desorber. Desorbers with counter-current flow of the solution and generated vapor enable efficient heat and mass transfer between the two phases, reducing the absorbent content in the generated vapor. Flow visualization experiments at temperatures, concentrations and pressures representative of operating conditions are necessary to understand the heat and mass transfer processes and flow regime characteristics within the component. In this study, a Flooded Column desorber, which accomplishes desorption of the refrigerant vapor through a combination of falling-film and pool boiling, was fabricated and tested. Refrigerant-rich solution enters the top of the component and fills a column, which is heated by an adjacent heated microchannel array. The vapor generated within the component is removed from the top of the component, while the dilute solution drains from the bottom. Flow visualization experiments showed that the Flooded Column desorber operated most stably in a partially flooded condition, with a pool-boiling region below a falling-film region. It was found that the liquid column level was dependent on operating conditions, and that the pool-boiling region exhibits aggressive mixing between the vapor and solution phases. Heat transfer coefficients were calculated from the data for the pool-boiling region, and were compared with the predictions of several mixture pool-boiling correlations from the literature. The correlations from the literature were in general unable to predict the data from this study adequately. It was found that the Flooded Column desorber yielded higher heat transfer coefficients within the pool-boiling region than those predicted by these correlations. Therefore, modifications to existing mixture boiling correlations are suggested based on the findings of this study. The resulting modified correlation predicts 33 of the 35 data points from this study within ±40%, with an average absolute error of 19%.

Nailfold capillary microscopy is simple, non-invasive, no injuries and easy to observe human`s microcirculation and micro blood stream directly. Due to these advantages, it plays a significant role in diseases diagnoses, treatments and prognosis. The observation of microcirculation focuses on hand, foot naildfold, conjunctival, lingual surface and lips. Nailfold microcirculation is usually performed on the ring finger. However, when measuring the speed of blood flow, difficulty to stabilize the region of interest (ROI) is often encountered. This problem becomes more serious when the magnification of microscope increases. Fixture to stabilize finger will inevitably affect the speed of blood flow under observation. The Laser Doppler blood flow velocimetry method, is expensive, only can be used in bigger capillary or to measure the average flow velocity of lager observed area, lacking of diversified morphological features of capillary, it¡¦s precision is worse than microscopy image capture method, and because of the regular contraction and relaxation of arterioles it can only measure the local blood flow velocity, cannot describe whole details of capillary blood flow velocity, some important information of microcirculation will be ignored easily. This thesis employs computer vision technique to operate displacement compensation of microscopy image sequence to stabilize observed area and extract area of capillary. Then the morphological and hemodynamic pathology features will be derived and analyzed to evaluate the status of a person¡¦s health. Not only morphological features, e.g., length, density and color, but also hemodynamic features, e.g., blood flow velocity will be measured to assess the microcirculation in end capillary. The most significant characteristic of this project is to combine three-dimensional models reconstruction technology of computer graphic to reconstruct three-dimensional capillary models and perform the three-dimensional dynamic blood flow visualization. Thus, the capillary blood flow can be adjusted and observed in the desired orientation, magnification and viewpoint. A variety of pathologically significant features of nailfold microcirculation will be extracted in the project proposed. These features can be classified into morphological and hemodynamic features. The morphological features extracted include the number, width/height, density, arteriolar limb caliber, curved segment caliber, venular limb caliber, blood color, tortuosity, and width of the curved segment of capillaries. On the other hand, hemodynamic features including velocity, direction of blood flow will also be extracted. By integrating both morphological and hemodynamic features, the status of a person¡¦s health can be evaluated by the doctor. The novel system proposed is not only easy to operate, low-cost but also has the great potential to be utilized clinically.

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is an optical technique used to display and evaluate the motion of fine particles in a flow. In this experimental study, velocity profiles are examined by PIV system and basic analysis methods are compared.

Thesis (M.S.) -- Mississippi State University. Department of Computational Engineering. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Experiments were conducted in a recirculating water channel to determine the flow topology around a simplified two-wheel landing gear model. Both hydrogen bubble visualization and Particle Image Velocimetry techniques were employed. The Reynolds number based on wheel diameter was 32,500. The general flow topology was characterized for several wheel configurations. Previously undiscovered structures have been found in several regions of the flow field, and their behavior was found to depend strongly on the geometry of the wheels. The phenomena of vorticity amplification near the stagnation point of the wheels was also studied. Weak upstream vorticity was found to collect, grow, and amplify into large coherent structures which then shed in a regular manner. The size, location, and shedding frequency of these structures has been characterized. The impingement point of the upstream vorticity was found to dictate the dynamics of the phenomena.

No description available.

Experiments were conducted in a recirculating water channel to determine the flow topology around a simplified two-wheel landing gear model. Both hydrogen bubble visualization and Particle Image Velocimetry techniques were employed. The Reynolds number based on wheel diameter was 32,500. The general flow topology was characterized for several wheel configurations. Previously undiscovered structures have been found in several regions of the flow field, and their behavior was found to depend strongly on the geometry of the wheels. The phenomena of vorticity amplification near the stagnation point of the wheels was also studied. Weak upstream vorticity was found to collect, grow, and amplify into large coherent structures which then shed in a regular manner. The size, location, and shedding frequency of these structures has been characterized. The impingement point of the upstream vorticity was found to dictate the dynamics of the phenomena.

The present study is the first investigation of falling-film evaporation over horizontal rectangular tubes. This geometry is representative of the external profile of microchannel tubes. Incorporating these designs into shell-and-tube heat exchangers has the potential to provide compact, high-performance components for a wide range of applications. This fluid flow was investigated experimentally, targeting three areas: measurements of heat transfer coefficients, quantification of flow characteristics, and the performance of flow distributors. Falling-film evaporation experiments were conducted using water on a rectangular test section with dimensions of 203 × 1.42 × 27.4 mm (length × width × height), measuring heat transfer coefficients over a range of saturation temperatures, test section spacings, heat fluxes, and film Reynolds numbers. This was supported by a flow visualization study that quantified droplet and wave parameters using image analysis of high speed videos. Finally, the performance of eight liquid distributors, which are used to establish falling-film flows, was quantified and the size of the generated droplets and jets was measured. Three models were developed to predict the flow regime, wetted tube area, and heat transfer coefficient. The flow regime model is based on a thermodynamic analysis, while the wetted tube area is found with a hydrodynamic model based on idealized flow assumptions. Finally, the heat transfer model relies on a relationship with the classic Nusselt (1916) film theory. Each of these models demonstrated good agreement with the experimental data, as well as trends in the literature. The increased understanding of falling-film evaporation gained in this study will enable the accurate design of shell-and-tube heat exchangers with microchannel tubes.

Das zentrale Thema dieser Dissertation ist die Anwendung illustrativer Methoden auf zwei bisher ungelöste Probleme der Strömungsvisualisierung. Das Ziel der Strömungsvisualisierung ist die Bereitstellung von Software, die Experten beim Auswerten ihrer Strömungsdaten und damit beim Erkenntnisgewinn unterstützt. Bei der illustrativen Visualisierung handelt es sich um einen Zweig der Visualisierung, der sich an der künstlerischen Arbeit von Illustratoren orientiert. Letztere sind darauf spezialisiert komplizierte Zusammenhänge verständlich und ansprechend zu vermitteln. Die angewendeten Techniken werden in der illustrativen Visualisierung auf reale Daten übertragen, um die Effektivität der Darstellung zu erhöhen. Das erste Problem, das im Rahmen dieser Dissertation bearbeitet wurde, ist die eingeschränkte Verständlichkeit von komplexen Stromflächen. Selbstverdeckungen oder Aufrollungen behindern die Form- und Strömungswahrnehmung und machen diese Flächen gerade in interessanten Strömungssituationen wenig nützlich. Auf Basis von handgezeichneten Strömungsdarstellungen haben wir ein Flächenrendering entwickelt, das Silhouetten, nicht-photorealistische Beleuchtung und illustrative Stromlinien verwendet. Interaktive Flächenschnitte erlauben die Exploration der Flächen und der Strömungen, die sie repräsentieren. Angewendet auf verschiedene Stromflächen ließ sich zeigen, dass die Methoden die Verständlichkeit erhöhen, v.a. in Bereichen komplexer Strömung mit Aufwicklungen oder Singularitäten. Das zweite Problem ist die Strömungsanalyse des Blutes aus 4D PC-MRI-Daten. An diese relativ neue Datenmodalität werden hohe Erwartungen für die Erforschung und Behandlung kardiovaskulärer Krankheiten geknüpft, da sie erstmals ein dreidimensionales, zeitlich aufgelöstes Abbild der Hämodynamik liefert. Bisher werden 4D PC-MRI-Daten meist mit Werkzeugen der klassischen Strömungsvisualisierung verarbeitet. Diese werden den besonderen Ansprüchen der medizinischen Anwender jedoch nicht gerecht, die in kurzer Zeit eine übersichtliche Darstellung der relevanten Strömungsaspekte erhalten möchten. Wir haben ein Werkzeug zur visuellen Analyse der Blutströmung entwickelt, welches eine einfache Detektion von markanten Strömungsmustern erlaubt, wie z.B. Jets, Wirbel oder Bereiche mit hoher Blutverweildauer. Die Grundidee ist hierbei aus vorberechneten Integrallinien mit Hilfe speziell definierter Linienprädikate die relevanten, d.h. am gefragten Strömungsmuster, beteiligten Linien ausgewählt werden. Um eine intuitive Darstellung der Resultate zu erreichen, haben wir uns von Blutflußillustrationen inspirieren lassen und präsentieren eine abstrakte Linienbündel- und Wirbeldarstellung. Die Linienprädikatmethode sowie die abstrakte Darstellung der Strömungsmuster wurden an 4D PC-MRI-Daten von gesunden und pathologischen Aorten- und Herzdaten erfolgreich getestet. Auch die Evaluierung durch Experten zeigt die Nützlichkeit der Methode und ihr Potential für den Einsatz in der Forschung und der Klinik. / This thesis’ central theme is the use of illustrative methods to solve flow visualization problems. The goal of flow visualization is to provide users with software tools supporting them analyzing and extracting knowledge from their fluid dynamics data. This fluid dynamics data is produced in large amounts by simulations or measurements to answer diverse questions in application fields like engineering or medicine. This thesis deals with two unsolved problems in flow visualization and tackles them with methods of illustrative visualization. The latter is a subbranch of visualization whose methods are inspired by the art work of professional illustrators. They are specialized in the comprehensible and esthetic representation of complex knowledge. With illustrative visualization, their techniques are applied to real data to enhance their representation. The first problem dealt with in this thesis is the limited shape and flow perception of complex stream surfaces. Self-occlusion and wrap-ups hinder their effective use in the most interesting flow situations. On the basis of hand-drawn flow illustrations, a surface rendering method was designed that uses silhouettes, non-photorealistic shading, and illustrative surface stream lines. Additionally, geometrical and flow-based surface cuts allow the user an interactive exploration of the surface and the flow it represents. By applying this illustrative technique to various stream surfaces and collecting expert feedback, we could show that the comprehensibility of the stream surfaces was enhanced – especially in complex areas with surface wrap-ups and singularities. The second problem tackled in this thesis is the analysis of blood flow from 4D PC-MRI data. From this rather young data modality, medical experts expect many advances in the research of cardiovascular diseases because it delivers a three-dimensional and time-resolved image of the hemodynamics. However, 4D PC-MRI data are mainly processed with standard flow visualizaton tools, which do not fulfill the requirements of medical users. They need a quick and easy-to-understand display of the relevant blood flow aspects. We developed a tool for the visual analysis of blood flow that allows a fast detection of distinctive flow patterns, such as high-velocity jets, vortices, or areas with high residence times. The basic idea is to precalculate integral lines and use specifically designed line predicates to select and display only lines involved in the pattern of interest. Traditional blood flow illustrations inspired us to an abstract and comprehensible depiction of the resulting line bundles and vortices. The line predicate method and the illustrative flow pattern representation were successfully tested with 4D PC-MRI data of healthy and pathological aortae and hearts. Also, the feedback of several medical experts confirmed the usefulness of our methods and their capabilities for a future application in the clinical research and routine.