Experimental Study of Fluid-Structure Interaction in a Simplified Geometry of the Human Upper Airways

Abstract

OSAS (Obstructive Sleep Apnoe Syndrome) is a sleep related breathing disorder caused by repetitive collapses of the pharyngeal walls during sleep. The objective of this project is to supply experimental data to validate CFD simulations of fluid-structure Interaction (FSI), used in the prognosis of surgeries for OSAS. A testrig to investigate the FSI of flow over a rigid plate with an attached elastic plate was designed, built and tested. Velocity profiles (derived from pitot tube pressure measurements) normal to the elastic plate and behind the elastic plate were measured as air flows by, and the motion of the elastic plate was recorded with a highspeed camera. Furthermore the recordings were analyzed and the movement of the flexible plate was determined. The experiments were realized with pitot-tube measurements and high-speed camera recordings.