Pulsatile blood flow through arterioles

An analytical study was made to examine the effect of vascular deformability on the pulsatile blood flow in arterioles through the use of a suitable mathematical model. The blood in arterioles is assumed to consist of two layers — both Newtonian but with differing coefficients of viscosity. The flow characteristics of blood as well as the resistance to flow have been determined using the numerical computations of the resulting expressions. The applicability of the model is illustrated using numerical results based on the existing experimental data. r, z coordinate system - u, axial/longitudinal velocity component of blood - p pressure exerted by blood - _b density of blood - µ viscosity of blood - t time - , displacement components of the vessel wall - T _t0,T ₀ known initial stresses - density of the wall material - h thickness of the vessel wall - T _t,T stress components of the vessel - K _l,K _r components of the spring coefficient - C _l,C _r components of the friction coefficient - M _a additional mass of the mechanical model - r ₁ outer radius of the vessel - thickness of the plasma layer - r ₁ inner radius of the vessel - circular frequency of the forced oscillation - k wave number - E ₀,E _t, , _t material parameters for the arterial segment - µ _p viscosity of the plasma layer - Q total flux - Q _p flux across the plasma zone - Q _h flux across the core region - Q mean flow rate - resistance to flow - P pressure difference - l length of the segment of the vessel