The global pandemic has been one of the most disruptive events in modern time. Every country, economy and society has been affected in one way or another. However, global challenges present new opportunities for new innovations, especially in an environment that has seen the most increased digitalisation efforts than at any other time in history.

The webinar will highlight how the pandemic has changed the way we live and work, and how high performance computing (HPC) enabled research, technologies and innovations could help re-shape industries, strategies and society in the new normal.

Topics:

Powering Airflow and Droplets Spread Study with Supercomputing 

by Dr. Kang Chang Wei, Deputy Director, Fluid Dynamic Department, Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), A*STAR

The virus laden droplets and aerosols could expel from an infected person’s mouth while talking, singing, coughing, or sneezing. The transmission of respiratory droplets/aerosols demonstrates the competing effects of drag, inertia, gravity, and evaporation. Each transmission process is affected by complex flow phenomena, ranging from turbulent jets, flow-induced droplets/aerosols dispersion, and sedimentation, to droplet evaporation and deposition. Modelling and simulation-based fundamental thermo-fluid physics could provide accurate insight and visualise the droplets/aerosols dynamics and spread process.

A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) framework considers critical factors including but not limited to expulsion force of fluid volume, droplet/aerosol size distribution, evaporation of water from the droplet (temperature and humidity dependent), and viral load in the droplet. The computational framework would enable quantifying droplets falling on human subjects under air flow due to natural and mechanical ventilation or air-conditioning, allowing the risk-based analysis of different configurations and scenarios. Harnessing the power of supercomputer resources, the team manages to delve deeper into the underlying physics and evaluate multiple settings. The fundamental knowledge of the underlying physics, together with some use cases, will be shared in this webinar.

Accelerating Innovation in Healthcare and Medical Devices through Engineering Simulation

by Mr. Karthik Sundarraj, Technical Manager, Indo-Pacific, Hexagon, MSC Software Corporation, Singapore

Advancements in grid generation, flow solvers, fluid-structure interaction methods, ability to provide realistic boundary conditions, data reduction and visualization methods have made the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in medical field prepossessing. On close observations with experiments, the scientists can rely on CFD in developing and improving upon the existing devices related to cardiology, orthopedic and pulmonology by analyzing the fluid flow across the devices. The opportunity to analyze the fluid flow across the arteries, veins and nasal passages are unparalleled now with advancements in technology. However, numerous challenges arise primarily in the accurate modelling of the flow – heterogeneous Non-Newtonian nature of blood, the material properties of the arteries, veins, capillaries and the moving wall dynamics of the heart comprises some of them. Correct representation of the boundary information is also vital in the numerical analysis since the solution parameters are highly sensitive to the boundary condition. Possibility of patient-specific approach makes CFD investigations efficacious. Accurate modelling using CFD can give information and detailed insights into the flow physics on bio-medical applications. CFD can also help determine certain parameters relevant to interest of medical practitioners which otherwise cannot be obtained.

Droplet dynamics and its interaction with the fluid can be modelled in CFD using particle tracking method. Especially in the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic, investigations on the topic seem fruitful. CRADLE can model the physics related to hemodynamics, fluid-structure interaction, moving boundaries and other phenomena as observed in the biomedical industry. Published articles by researchers on biomedical applications using CRADLE prove otherwise.