Data from: Force and torque on spherical particles in micro-channel flows using computational fluid dynamics

To delineate the influence of hemodynamic force on cell adhesion processes, model in vitro fluidic assays that mimic physiological conditions are commonly employed. Herein, we offer a framework for solution of the 3D Navier-Stokes equations using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to estimate the forces resulting from fluid flow near a plane acting on a sphere that is either stationary or in free flow, and we compare these results to a widely used theoretical model that assumes Stokes flow with a constant shear rate. We find that while the full 3D solutions using a parabolic velocity profile in CFD simulations yield similar translational velocities to those predicted by the theoretical method, the CFD approach results in ~50% larger rotational velocities over the wall shear stress range of 0.1-5.0 dynes/cm2. This leads to a ~25% difference in force and torque calculations between the two methods. When compared to experimental measurements of translational and rotational velocities of microspheres or cells perfused in microfluidic channels, the CFD simulations yield significantly less error. We propose CFD modeling can provide better estimations of hemodynamic force levels acting on perfused microspheres and cells in flow fields through microfluidic devices utilized for cell adhesion dynamics analysis.

为阐明血流动力对细胞黏附过程的影响，学界通常采用模拟生理环境的体外流体实验模型。本研究提出了一套基于计算流体动力学（CFD）求解三维纳维-斯托克斯方程的框架，用于估算平面附近流体对静止或自由流动球体产生的作用力，并将该结果与采用恒定剪切率斯托克斯流假设的经典理论模型进行对比。研究发现，尽管CFD模拟中采用抛物线速度分布的全三维解所得的平动速度与理论方法的预测结果相近，但在0.1~5.0达因/平方厘米的壁面剪切应力区间内，CFD方法得到的旋转速度比理论值高出约50%。这使得两种方法在作用力与扭矩计算结果上存在约25%的差异。将CFD模拟结果与微流道中灌注的微球或细胞的平动、旋转速度实验测量值对比后，CFD模拟的误差显著更低。本研究表明，在用于细胞黏附动力学分析的微流控装置中，CFD建模能够更精准地估算流场内灌注微球与细胞所受的血流动力水平。