Improvement and validation of a computational model of flow in the swirling well cell culture model
File(s)
Accepted version
Accepted version
Author(s)
Arshad, Mehwish
Rowland, Ethan M
Riemer, Kai
Sherwin, Spencer J
Weinberg, Peter D
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Effects of fluid dynamics on cells are often studied by growing the cells on the base of cylindrical wells or dishes that are swirled on the horizontal platform of an orbital shaker. The swirling culture medium applies a shear stress to the cells that varies in magnitude and directionality from the centre to the edge of the vessel. Computational fluid dynamics methods are used to simulate the flow and hence calculate shear stresses at the base of the well. The shear characteristics at each radial location are then compared with cell behaviour at the same position. Previous simulations have generally ignored effects of surface tension and wetting, and results have only occasionally been experimentally validated. We investigated whether such idealized simulations are sufficiently accurate, examining a commonly-used swirling well configuration. The breaking wave predicted by earlier simulations was not seen, and the edge-to-centre difference in shear magnitude (but not directionality) almost disappeared, when surface tension and wetting were included. Optical measurements of fluid height and velocity agreed well only with the computational model that incorporated surface tension and wetting. These results demonstrate the importance of including accurate fluid properties in computational models of the swirling well method.
Date Issued
2021-10-06
Date Acceptance
2021-10-01
Citation
Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 2021
ISSN
0006-3592
Publisher
Wiley
Journal / Book Title
Biotechnology and Bioengineering
Copyright Statement
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Subjects
Biotechnology
Publication Status
Published online
Date Publish Online
2021-10-06