Rheological Behavior of Physiological Pulsatile Flow through a Model Arterial Stenosis with Moving Wall

Abstract

The paper presents a numerical investigation of non-Newtonian modeling effects on unsteady periodic flows in a two-dimensional (2D) constricted channel with moving wall using finite volume method. The governing Navier-Stokes equations have been modified using the Cartesian curvilinear coordinates to handle complex geometries, such as, arterial stenosis. The physiological pulsatile flow has been used at the inlet position as an inlet velocity. The flow is characterized by the Reynolds numbers 300, 500, and 750 that are appropriate for large arteries. The investigations have been carried out to characterize four different non-Newtonian constitutive equations of blood, namely, the (i) Carreau, (ii) Cross, (iii) Modified-Casson, and (iv) Quemada. In these four models, blood viscosity is a nonlinear function of shear rates. The Newtonian model has been investigated to study the physics of fluid and the results are compared with the non-Newtonian viscosity models. The numerical results are presented in terms of streamwise velocity, wall shear stress, pressure distribution as well as the vorticity, streamlines, and vector plots indicating recirculation zones at the poststenotic region. Comparison has also been illustrated in terms of wall pressure and wall shear stress for the Cross model considering different amplitudes of wall oscillation.