3D computational fluid dynamics of Newtonian and non-Newtonian blood flow in coronary arteries with implanted stents

Abstract

Abstract This study introduces and compares computational fluid dynamics of Newtonian and non-Newtonian blood flow in coronary arteries with and without considering stents for the first time. Three blood flow models, including Newtonian, Carreau, and non-Newtonian power-law models, have been simulated to investigate their effect, and the solution algorithm includes drawing the geometry, creating the desired mesh, and then simulating Newtonian and non-Newtonian blood flow different models and comparing them with each other, is presented in the article. A Newtonian fluid model is commonly used in the simulation of blood flow, whereas blood has non-Newtonian properties due to the nature of a solution containing suspended particles. Our goal in this research is to investigate the differences between the models built with Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid assumptions. Moreover, a stent has been designed and its effect has been investigated in all blood flow models. Stents are medical devices that can be placed in arteries to open up blood flow in a blocked vessel. In this regard, a lot of computational modeling and simulation has been done as an important tool to predict the performance of stents. The distribution of velocity, pressure, and wall shear stress in all blood flow models with and without considering the effect of stents have been investigated and finally compared. A comparison of Newtonian and non-Newtonian flows showed that in the case of the Carreau non-Newtonian model, the wall shear stress is higher. In addition, in the results of the geometric model with a stent effect compared to the geometric model without a stent effect, it is evident that there is a higher velocity and wall shear stress.