TITLE:
Mass deposition and fluid flow in stenotic arteries: Rectangular and half-circular models
AUTHORS:
Dipak Kumar Mandal, Somnath Chakrabarti
KEYWORDS:
Atherosclerosis; Deposition; Pressure Drop; Velocity Contour
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering,
Vol.6 No.12,
December
6,
2013
ABSTRACT: Mass
deposition inside the artery wall may play a significant role in the
development of the disease atherosclerosis. Locally elevated concentrations of
LDL in the arterial wall are considered to be the initiator of atherosclerotic
plaque formation. In this study, an attempt has been made to study initially
the effect of fluid dynamic parameters on the disease and finally proposed a
concept, from the idea of basic flow characteristics in constricted arteries,
for the assessment of mass deposition in the arterial wall to some extent for rectangular
as well as half circular stenosed models. Reynolds numbers are chosen as 100,
200, 300 and 400 and percentage of restrictions as 30%, 50%, 70% and 90%
respectively. The governing Navier-Stokes and continuity equations are solved
in the artery lumen with the commercial CFD code ANSYS 12.1. The
pressure-velocity coupling equations are solved by SIMPLE (Semi-Implicit Method
for Pressure-Linked Equations) algorithm. The studies on pressure drop at
stenosis zone and flow separation zone reveal that the effect of percentage of
restriction is more dominant than Reynolds number on the progression of the
disease, atherosclerosis for any shaped restriction. The mass deposition
results of rectangular and half circular stenotic models motivate to conclude
that the effect of percentage of restriction is more prone to the disease than
that of Reynolds number. Half circular stenotic shape insists for the less
chance of mass deposition in the arterial wall compared to rectangular shaped restriction.