Date of Award

Fall 2011

Project Type

Thesis

Program or Major

Mechanical Engineering

Degree Name

Master of Science

First Advisor

Gregory Chini

Abstract

Pulmonary micromechanics (at the scale of alveoli) involves a delicate balance among tissue material properties, geometry, surface tension, pressure and stress distribution. To date, there is not a consensus among alveolar mechanics researchers about how these factors interact, in part because alveoli are so difficult to image and study in vivo. Here, we propose a basic mathematical model of a two-dimensional hexagonal network of mechanically coupled alveoli. We investigate equilibrium configurations of both dry and wet, internally pressurized elastic networks. Specifically, we compute pressure-area curves to quantify the differences among networks with different spring constants, internal pressures, network size and surface tensions. We conclude that a two-dimensional hexagonal network in force equilibrium is an appropriate first step in modeling the mechanics of the dynamic lung.

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