Wall Shear Stress Signals Research Articles

Design of readout circuit for high sampling miniaturized MEMS wall shear force sensor

Wall shear stress is one of the important measurement parameters in wind tunnel experiments. In the shock wind tunnel, the duration of the flow field is very short, usually a few milliseconds. To ensure measurement accuracy, the sampling rate should not be less than 1kHz. Due to the limitation of model volume and experimental environment, it is necessary to design a miniaturized readout circuit with high precision and high sampling rate, which is highly integrated with the MEMS wall shear stress sensor. The circuit includes a micro capacitance detection module integrated with the sensor head and a host computer signal processing and display module. Aiming at the complex measurement environment of the shock tunnel, to ensure the measurement accuracy, stability, and anti-interference ability of the weak capacitance detection circuit, a miniaturized ceramic substrate circuit is fabricated by a microstrip circuit process. The test results show that the resolution of the micro capacitance of the circuit can reach 20fF at the detection frequency of 3kHz, which can meet the measurement requirements of Shock tunnel, and realize the real-time measurement and display of wall shear stress signal.

Aneurysm risk metrics and hemodynamics are associated with greater vessel wall enhancement in intracranial aneurysms.

Vessel wall enhancement (VWE) in contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a potential biomarker for intracranial aneurysm (IA) risk stratification. In this study, we investigated the relationship between VWE features, risk metrics, morphology and hemodynamics in 41 unruptured aneurysms. We reconstructed the IA geometries from MR angiography and mapped pituitary stalk-normalized MRI intensity on the aneurysm surface using an in-house tool. For each case, we calculated the maximum intensity (CRstalk) and IA risk (via size and the rupture resemblance score (RRS)). We performed correlation analysis to assess relationships between CRstalk and IA risk metrics (size and RRS), as well as each parameter encompassed in RRS, i.e. aneurysmal size ratio (SR), normalized wall shear stress (WSS) and oscillatory shear index. We found that CRstalk had a strong correlation (Pearson correlation coefficient, PCC = 0.630) with size and a moderate correlation (PCC = 0.472) with RRS, indicating an association between VWE and IA risk. Furthermore, CRstalk had a weak negative correlation with normalized WSS (PCC = −0.320) and a weak positive correlation with SR (PCC = 0.390). Local voxel-based analysis showed only a weak negative correlation between normalized WSS and contrast-enhanced MRI signal intensity (PCC = −0.240), suggesting that if low-normalized WSS induces enhancement-associated pathobiology, the effect is not localized.

Investigating channel flow using wall shear stress signals at transitional Reynolds numbers

Time-resolved wall shear stress measurements are conducted to investigate channel flow at transitional Reynolds numbers. Constant temperature anemometry (CTA) is employed to measure the instantaneous wall shear stress using glue-on hot films as the sensing probes. Pressure-drop measurements are conducted to calibrate the mean hot-film voltage signals and to ensure that the pressure drop is measured in the so-called “fully-developed” region of the channel, a study of effect of entrance length on the pressure-drop measurements is carried out. Time history and higher order statistics of wall shear stress fluctuations reveal that the flow remains laminar until Reτ(=uτh/ν)≈43 in our channel flow facility, where uτ, h and ν are the friction velocity, channel half-height and kinematic viscosity, respectively. Third and fourth order moments of wall shear stress jump at the onset of transition and increase significantly until they reach maxima at about Reτ ≈ 48. After this Reynolds number, these two higher order moments start to decrease gradually with increasing Reynolds number and after Reτ≈73−79, any significant dependence of these two moments on Reynolds number disappears. Multiple hot-film measurements, which are located at different spatial locations, are conducted to characterize the large-scale turbulent structures. It is observed that there are structures, at least 7h wide, for Reτ between 46.8 and 53.9. Two-point spatial correlations reveal that on average these large structures are angled at approximately 17o for Reτ=46.8 and roughly between 32o and 37o for 48.7 < Reτ < 53.9 relative to the streamwise direction.

A microfluidic device with spatiotemporal wall shear stress and ATP signals to investigate the intracellular calcium dynamics in vascular endothelial cells.

Intracellular calcium dynamics plays an important role in the regulation of vascular endothelial cellular functions. In order to probe the intracellular calcium dynamic response under synergistic effect of wall shear stress (WSS) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) signals, a novel microfluidic device, which provides the adherent vascular endothelial cells (VECs) on the bottom of microchannel with WSS signal alone, ATP signal alone, and different combinations of WSS and ATP signals, is proposed based upon the principles of fluid mechanics and mass transfer. The spatiotemporal profiles of extracellular ATP signals from numerical simulation and experiment studies validate the implementation of our design. The intracellular calcium dynamics of VECs in response to either WSS signal or ATP signal alone, and different combinations of WSS and ATP signals have been investigated. It is found that the synergistic effect of the WSS and ATP signals plays a more significant role in the signal transduction of VECs rather than that from either WSS signal or ATP signal alone. In particular, under the combined stimuli of WSS and ATP signals with different amplitudes and frequencies, the amplitudes and frequencies of the intracellular Ca2+ dynamic signals are observed to be closely related to the amplitudes and frequencies of WSS or ATP signals.

A Y-Shaped Microfluidic Device to Study the Combined Effect of Wall Shear Stress and ATP Signals on Intracellular Calcium Dynamics in Vascular Endothelial Cells.

The intracellular calcium dynamics in vascular endothelial cells (VECs) in response to wall shear stress (WSS) and/or adenosine triphosphate (ATP) have been commonly regarded as an important factor in regulating VEC function and behavior including proliferation, migration and apoptosis. However, the effects of time-varying ATP signals have been usually neglected in the past investigations in the field of VEC mechanobiology. In order to investigate the combined effects of WSS and dynamic ATP signals on the intracellular calcium dynamic in VECs, a Y-shaped microfluidic device, which can provide the cultured cells on the bottom of its mixing micro-channel with stimuli of WSS signal alone and different combinations of WSS and ATP signals in one single micro-channel, is proposed. Both numerical simulation and experimental studies verify the feasibility of its application. Cellular experimental results also suggest that a combination of WSS and ATP signals rather than a WSS signal alone might play a more significant role in VEC Ca2+ signal transduction induced by blood flow.

Analyzing guard-heating to enable accurate hot-film wall shear stress measurements for turbulent flows

In this paper we examine guard-heated hot-film sensors for the measurement of wall shear stress fluctuations in turbulent flows, using analytical and numerical techniques. The new thermal sensor designs proposed here, seek to eliminate the most severe source of error in conventional single-element hot-film sensors – which is indirect heat transfer to the fluid flow through the solid substrate. Published studies of the single-element hot-film show that a significant portion of the heat generated in the hot-film travels through the substrate before reaching the fluid, which causes spectral and phase errors in the wall shear stress signal and can drastically reduce the spatial resolution of the sensor. In addition, heat conduction parallel to the surface, within the fluid near the sensor edges, can produce significant errors when sensors are made smaller to improve spatial resolution. Here we examine the effectiveness of forcing zero temperature gradient at the edges of the hot-film in eliminating these errors. Air and water flow over such guard-heated sensors are studied numerically to investigate performance and signal strength of the guard-heated sensors. Our results show, particularly for low-conductivity fluids such as air, that edge guard-heating needs to be supplemented by a sub-surface guard-heater. With this two-plane guard-heating, a strong non-linearity in the standard single-element designs can be corrected, and substrate conduction errors contributing to spectral distortion and phase errors can be eliminated.

Experimental detection of a periodically forced turbulent boundary layer separation

Wind tunnel experiments are conducted to investigate the effect of periodic blowing over a non-slotted NACA-type flap equipped with seven pulsed slots. The tests are performed at Re ≃ 3 × 106 for different deflection angles ranging from 2° to 35°. Wall-mounted hot-films are chordwise distributed on the flap. The purpose of the experiments is to assess the ability of wall shear stress signals to detect flow separation with and without periodic control, and to be used as reliable feedback information in a closed-loop control framework. Laser beam tomoscopy is first used to visualize flow structures with and without flow control. Two separation criteria based on higher-order statistical moments of hot-film signals are proposed to detect flow separation. They present the advantage of being independent of the free-stream velocity. The two criteria are finally practised to follow the steady-state response of the system and determine its static map local gradient.

Quantifying turbulent wall shear stress in a subject specific human aorta using large eddy simulation

In this study, large-eddy simulation (LES) is employed to calculate the disturbed flow field and the wall shear stress (WSS) in a subject specific human aorta. Velocity and geometry measurements using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are taken as input to the model to provide accurate boundary conditions and to assure the physiological relevance. In total, 50 consecutive cardiac cycles were simulated from which a phase average was computed to get a statistically reliable result. A decomposition similar to Reynolds decomposition is introduced, where the WSS signal is divided into a pulsating part (due to the mass flow rate) and a fluctuating part (originating from the disturbed flow). Oscillatory shear index (OSI) is plotted against time-averaged WSS in a novel way, and locations on the aortic wall where elevated values existed could easily be found. In general, high and oscillating WSS values were found in the vicinity of the branches in the aortic arch, while low and oscillating WSS were present in the inner curvature of the descending aorta. The decomposition of WSS into a pulsating and a fluctuating part increases the understanding of how WSS affects the aortic wall, which enables both qualitative and quantitative comparisons.

Three-band decomposition analysis of wall shear stress in pulsatile flows

Space-time patterns of wall shear stress (WSS) resulting from the numerical simulation of pulsating hemodynamic flows in semicoronal domains are analyzed, in the case of both regular semicoronal domains and semicoronal domains with bumpy insertions, mimicking aneurysm-like geometries. A new family of cardiovascular risk indicators, which we name three-band diagrams (TBDs), are introduced, as a sensible generalization of the two standard indicators, i.e., the time-averaged WSS and the oscillatory shear index. TBDs provide a handy access to additional information contained in the dynamic structure of the WSS signal as a function of the physiological risk threshold, thereby allowing a quick visual assessment of the risk sensitivity to individual fluctuations of the physiological risk thresholds. Due to its generality, TBD analysis is expected to prove useful for a wide host of applications in science, engineering, and medicine, where risk assessment plays a central role.