Changes of Boundary Layer Flow in Model Systems

Abstract

A model system using fluid driven through glass and plastic tubes coated with resin, demonstrated augmentation of the viscous shearing stresses at the inner surface of the wall when variations in shape were introduced into the tube and at branch points. The hydrodynamic basis of these increased stresses is presented from the point of view of boundary layer theory, and the relevance for initiation of arterio-atherosclerosis is discussed.