Events Calendar

AME Seminar

Speaker: Ali Khosronejad, Stony Brook University

Talk Title: Saliva Particle Transport during Cough & Breathing: Insights on Effective Social Distancing & Face Wearing Gained by LES

Abstract: The Coronavirus disease outbreak of 2019 has been causing significant loss of life and unprecedented economical loss throughout the world. Social distancing and face masks are widely recommended around the globe in order to protect others and prevent the spread of the virus through breathing, coughing, and sneezing. To expand the scientific underpinnings of such recommendations, we carry out high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations of unprecedented resolution and realism to elucidate the underlying physics of saliva particulate transport during human cough and normal breathing with and without facial masks. Our simulations: (a) are carried out under both a stagnant ambient flow (indoor) and a mild unidirectional breeze (outdoor) (b) incorporate the effect of human anatomy on the flow (c) account for both medical and non-medical grade masks; and (d) consider a wide spectrum of particulate sizes. We show that during indoor coughing some saliva particulates could travel up to 0.48 m, 0.73 m, and 2.62 m for the cases with medical-grade, non-medical grade, and without facial masks, respectively. Thus, in indoor environments either medical or non-medical grade facial masks can successfully limit the spreading of saliva particulates to others. Under outdoor conditions with a unidirectional mild breeze, however, leakage flow through the mask can cause saliva particulates to be entrained into the energetic shear layers around the body and transported very fast at large distances by the turbulent flow, thus, limiting the effectiveness of facial masks.

Biography: Short Bio:
1995 -“ 99 BS, Hydraulic Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
1999 -“ 2001 MS, Hydraulic Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
2001 -“ 2006 PhD, Hydraulic Engineering, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran
2004 -“ 2005 Research Assistant, University of Ottawa, Canada
2006 -“ 2009 Assis. Prof., University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran
2006 -“ 2009 Senior Engineer, Dam Rehabilitation Dept., Mahab Ghods Consultant, Tehran, Iran
2009 -“ 2016 Post-Doctoral, St. Anthony Falls Lab., University of Minnesota, Mineapolis, MN
2016 -“ Assis. Prof., Civil Engineering Dept., Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
Published over 40 Journal Articles
PI of research grants from NSF, NIH, Austrian NSF, and California Department of Transportation
Co-PI of research grants from DOE and NYSERDA

Host: AME Department

More Info: https://usc.zoom.us/j/99170932320

Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/99170932320

Location: Online event

WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/99170932320

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Tessa Yao

Event Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/99170932320