High performance computational comparison of complex lung airflow patterns

Robert Cieri, Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.

Usage Details

Vertebrate lungs are incredibly complex and diverse structures. Variation in airflow patterns in these lungs remains unexplored because the lungs are too complex for flow to be measured directly. High performance computing and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are novel tools for investigating these structures. Using CFD, I plan to compare lung airflow patterns among monitor lizards, a diverse group of reptiles with especially diverse lungs. With Blue Waters support, I would expand my thesis to open up a new line of inquiry in biology, investigating how lung airflow patterns evolved with habitat, body size, and metabolic rate. This research could help explain the evolution of unidirectional airflow in lungs and open these structures up for biomimetic applications.