Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: When do mucus films plug lung airways? Using reduced-order simulations of a large ensemble of randomly perturbed films, we show that the answer is not determined by just the film's volume. While very thin films always stay open and very thick films always plug, we find a range of intermediate films for which plugging is uncertain. The fastest-growing linear mode of the Rayleigh-Plateau instability ensures that the film's volume is divided among multiple humps. However, the nonlinear growth of these humps can occur unevenly, due to spontaneous axial sliding -- a lucky hump can sweep up a disproportionate share of the film's volume and so form a plug. This sliding-induced plugging is robust and prevails with or without gravitational and ciliary transport.
Source: Physical Review Fluids
DOI: 10.1103/zqkx-56gn
Authors: Swarnaditya Hazra, Jason R. Picardo
Institution: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Language: English
Subfield: Computational Mechanics
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G1141576190, G7356707002
OpenAlex ID: W4412484629