Oscillatory and steady streaming flow in the anterior chamber of the moving eye
File(s)dvoriashyna-et-al-jfm.pdf (4.91 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Dvoriashyna, M
Repetto, R
Tweedy, JH
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We study the flow induced by eye rotations in the anterior chamber (AC) of the eye, the region between the cornea and the iris. We model the geometry of the AC as a thin domain sitting on the surface of a sphere, and study both the simpler case of a constant-height domain as well as a more realistic AC shape. We model eye rotations as harmonic in time with prescribed frequency ωf and amplitude β , and use lubrication theory to simplify the governing equations. We write the equations in a reference frame moving with the domain and show that fluid motion is governed by three dimensionless parameters: the aspect ratio ϵ of the AC, the angular amplitude β and the Womersley number α . We simplify the equations under the physiologically realistic assumptions that ϵ is small and α large, leading to a linear system that can be decomposed into three harmonics: a dominant frequency component, with frequency ωf , and a steady streaming component and a third component with frequency 2ωf . We solve the problem analytically for the constant-height domain and numerically as the solution of ordinary differential equations in the more realistic geometry. Both the primary flow and the steady streaming are shown to have a highly three-dimensional structure, which has not been highlighted in previous numerical works. We show that the steady streaming is particularly relevant from the clinical point of view, as it induces fluid mixing in the AC. Furthermore, the steady flow component is the dominant mixing mechanism during the night, when the thermal flow induced by temperature variations across the AC is suppressed.
Date Issued
2019-03-25
Date Acceptance
2018-10-30
Citation
Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2019, 863, pp.904-926
ISSN
0022-1120
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Start Page
904
End Page
926
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Volume
863
Copyright Statement
© 2019 Cambridge University Press. This paper has been accepted for publication and will appear in a revised form, subsequent to peer-review and/or editorial input by Cambridge University Press.
Identifier
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-fluid-mechanics/article/oscillatory-and-steady-streaming-flow-in-the-anterior-chamber-of-the-moving-eye/00E6168FF1D1571DE1AF4930C7CDAD88
Subjects
01 Mathematical Sciences
09 Engineering
Fluids & Plasmas
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2019-01-28