Effects of variable viscosity on pulsatile flow of blood in a tapered stenotic flexible artery

The objective of the present study is to investigate the effects of variable viscosity on incompressible laminar pulsatile flow of blood through an overlapping doubly constricted tapered artery. To mimic the realistic situation, wall of the artery is taken to be flexible, and physiologically relevant pulsatile flow is introduced. The governing equations of blood flow are made dimensionless. A coordinate transformation is used to make the overlapping doubly constricted wall geometry of tube to a straight tube. Taking advantage of the Stream function–Vorticity formulation, the system of partial differential equations is then solved numerically by finite difference approximations. Effects of Reynolds number, Strouhal number, degree of contraction, tapering angle, and viscosity parameters are presented graphically and analyzed. The results show that formation of stenosis and tapering disturb the flow field significantly, and degree of stenosis is more important in influencing blood flow compared with tapering.     

Effects of pulsatile flow and straight length on low-density lipoprotein transport in a curved arterial wall

Abnormal accumulation of macromolecules such as low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) in the arterial wall causes narrowing and blockage of vessels, which leads to atherosclerosis. Effects of pulsatile nature of blood flows as well as the initial length on transport of the LDL species in the arterial boundary layer region are analyzed numerically in the present work. The set of governing equations consisting of continuity, Navier-Stokes, and species transport is solved using a projection method based on the second-order central difference discretization. The obtained results are in excellent agreement with the pertinent data. The computational results imply that the flow field and concentration distribution are time dependent but the variation of the filtration velocity can be ignored. The LDL concentration boundary layer thickness decreases in the outer part and increases in the inner part for both with or without straight length. Presence of initial straight length generates about 26% growth in the boundary layer thickness, although its effect on the LDL surface concentration (LSC) is negligible. The maximum LSC is related to the regions with minimum wall shear stress in the inner part of the curved artery, which have more potential for formation of atherosclerosis. A new numerical correlation between the LSC and boundary layer thickness is proposed and examined.     

A micropolar fluid model of blood flow through a tapered artery with a stenosis

A nonlinear two‐dimensional micropolar fluid model for blood flow in a tapered artery with a single stenosis is considered. This model takes into account blood rheology in which blood consists of microelements suspended in plasma. The classical Navier–Stokes theory is inadequate to describe the microrotations or particles' spin of such suspension in a viscous medium. The governing equations involving unsteady nonlinear partial differential equations are solved using a finite difference scheme. A quantitative analysis performed through numerical computation shows that the axial velocity profile and the flow rate decrease and the wall shear stress increases once the artery is narrower in the presence of the polar effect. Furthermore, the taper angle certainly bears the potential to influence the velocity and the flow characteristics to considerable extent. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Unsteady response of non-Newtonian blood flow through a stenosed artery in magnetic field

Current theoretical investigation of atherosclerotic arteries deals with mathematical models that represent non-Newtonian flow of blood through a stenosed artery in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. Here, the rheology of the flowing blood is characterised by a generalised Power law model. The distensibility of an arterial wall has been accounted for based on local fluid mechanics. A radial coordinate transformation is initiated to map cosine geometry of the stenosis into a rectangular grid. An appropriate finite difference scheme has been adopted to solve the unsteady non-Newtonian momentum equations in cylindrical coordinate system. Exploiting suitably prescribed conditions based on the assumption of an axial symmetry under laminar flow condition rendered the problem effectively to two dimensions. An extensive quantitative analysis has been performed based on numerical computations in order to estimate the effects of Hartmann number (M$M$), Power law index (n$n$), generalised Reynolds number (R_eG)$\left(R{e}_G\right)$, severity of the stenosis (δ)$\left(\delta \right)$ on various parameters such as flow velocity, flux and wall shear stress by means of their graphical representations so as to validate the applicability of the proposed mathematical model. The present results agree with some of the existing findings in the literature.     

Investigation of physiological pulsatile flow in a model arterial stenosis using large-eddy and direct numerical simulations

Physiological pulsatile flow in a 3D model of arterial stenosis is investigated by using large eddy simulation (LES) technique. The computational domain chosen is a simple channel with a biological type stenosis formed eccentrically on the top wall. The physiological pulsation is generated at the inlet using the first harmonic of the Fourier series of pressure pulse. In LES, the large scale flows are resolved fully while the unresolved subgrid scale (SGS) motions are modelled using a localized dynamic model. Due to the narrowing of artery the pulsatile flow becomes transition-to-turbulent in the downstream region of the stenosis, where a high level of turbulent fluctuations is achieved, and some detailed information about the nature of these fluctuations are revealed through the investigation of the turbulent energy spectra. Transition-to-turbulent of the pulsatile flow in the post stenosis is examined through the various numerical results such as velocity, streamlines, velocity vectors, vortices, wall pressure and shear stresses, turbulent kinetic energy, and pressure gradient. A comparison of the LES results with the coarse DNS are given for the Reynolds number of 2000 in terms of the mean pressure, wall shear stress as well as the turbulent characteristics. The results show that the shear stress at the upper wall is low just prior to the centre of the stenosis, while it is maximum in the throat of the stenosis. But, at the immediate post stenotic region, the wall shear stress takes the oscillating form which is quite harmful to the blood cells and vessels. In addition, the pressure drops at the throat of the stenosis where the re-circulated flow region is created due to the adverse pressure gradient. The maximum turbulent kinetic energy is located at the post stenosis with the presence of the inertial sub-range region of slope −5/3.     

Numerical simulation of generalized newtonian blood flow past a couple of irregular arterial stenoses

This paper looked at the numerical investigations of the generalized Newtonian blood flow through a couple of irregular arterial stenoses. The flow is treated to be axisymmetric, with an outline of the stenoses obtained from a three dimensional casting of a mild stenosed artery, so that the flow effectively becomes two‐dimensional. The Marker and Cell (MAC) method is developed for the governing unsteady generalized Newtonian equations in staggered grid for viscous incompressible flow in the cylindrical polar co‐ordinates system. The derived pressure‐Poisson equation was solved using Successive‐Over‐Relaxation (S.O.R.) method and the pressure‐velocity correction formulae have been derived. Computations are performed for the pressure drop, the wall shear stress distribution and the separation region. The presented computations show that in comparison to the corresponding Newtonian model the generalized Newtonian fluid experiences higher pressure drop, lower peak wall shear stress and smaller separation region. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 27: 960–981, 2011     

Analysis of blood flow through a modelled artery with an aneurysm

The intention of the present work is to carry out a systematic analysis of flow features in a tube, modelled as artery, having a local aneurysm in presence of haematocrit. The arterial model is treated to be axi-symmetric and rigid. The blood, flowing through the modelled artery, is treated to be Newtonian and non-homogeneous. For a thorough quantitative analysis of the flow characteristics such as wall pressure, flow velocity, wall shear stress, the unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in cylindrical polar co-ordinates under the laminar flow conditions are solved by using the finite-difference method. Finally, the numerical illustrations presented in this paper provide an effective measure to estimate the combined influence of haematocrit and aneurysm on flow characteristics. It is found that the magnitude of wall shear stress and also the length of separation increase with increasing values of the haematocrit parameter. The length of flow separation increases but the peak value of wall shear stress decreases with the increasing length of aneurysm. The peak value of wall shear stress as well as the length of separation increases with the increasing height of the aneurysm.     

Three-dimensional numerical simulation of blood flow in mouse aortic arch around atherosclerotic plaques

Atherosclerosis is a progressive disease, involving the build-up of lipid streaks in artery walls, leading to plaques. Understanding the development of atherosclerosis and plaque vulnerability is critically important since plaque rupture can result in heart attack or stroke. Plaques can be divided into two distinct types: those likely to rupture (vulnerable) or less likely to rupture (stable). In the last decade, researchers have been interested in studying the influence of the mechanical effects (blood shear stress, pressure forces and structural stress) on the plaque formation, progression and rupture processes but no general agreement has been found. The purpose of the present work is to include more realistic conditions for the numerical calculations of the blood flow by implementing real geometries with plaques in the numerical model. Hemodynamical parameters are studied in both diseased and healthy configurations. The healthy configuration is obtained by removing numerically the plaques from three dimensional geometries obtained by micro-computed tomography. A new hemodynamical parameter is also introduced to relate the location of plaques to the characteristics of the flow in the healthy configuration.     

Transition of MHD boundary layer flow past a stretching sheet

In this paper a study is carried out to understand the transition effect of boundary layer flow: (1) due to a suddenly imposed magnetic field over a viscous flow past a stretching sheet and (2) due to sudden withdrawal of magnetic field over a viscous flow past a stretching sheet under a magnetic field. In both the cases the sheet stretches linearly along the direction of the fluid flow. Governing equations have been non-dimensionalised and the non-dimensionalised equations have been solved using the implicit finite difference method of Crank–Nicholson type. Comparison between the steady state exact solutions and the steady state computed solutions has been carried out. Graphical representation of the dimensionless horizontal velocity, vertical velocity and local skin friction profiles of the steady state and unsteady state has been presented. Computation has been carried out for various values of the magnetic parameter M. The obtained results has been interpreted and discussed.     

Conceptual linearization of Euler governing equations to solve high speed compressible flow using a pressure‐based method

The main objective of the current work is to introduce a new conceptual linearization strategy to improve the performance of a primitive shock‐capturing pressure‐based finite‐volume method. To avoid a spurious oscillatory solution in the chosen collocated grids, both the primitive and extended methods utilize two convecting and convected momentum expressions at each cell face. The expressions are obtained via a physical‐based discretization of two inclusive statements, which are constructed via a novel incorporation of the continuity and momentum governing equations. These two expressions in turn provide a strong coupling among the Euler conservative statements. Contrary to the primitive work, the linearization in the current work respects the definitions and essence of physics behind deriving the Euler governing equations. The accuracy and efficiency of the new formulation are then investigated by solving the shock tube as a problem with moving normal and expansion waves and the converging‐diverging nozzle as a problem with strong stationary normal shock. The results show that there is good improvement in performance of the primitive pressure‐based shock‐capturing method while its superior accuracy is not deteriorated at all. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2008     

A new approach to the nonlinear stability of viscous flow in a coplanar magnetic field

We present a new Lyapunov function for laminar flow, in the x‐direction, between two parallel planes in the presence of a coplanar magnetic field for three‐dimensional perturbations with stress‐free boundary planes that provides conditional nonlinear stability for all Reynolds numbers(R_e) and magnetic Reynolds numbers(R_m) below π²/2M. Compared with previous results on the nonlinear stability of this problem, the radius of stability ball and the energy decay rate obtained in this paper are independent of the magnetic field. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of a combined mixed finite element and discontinuous Galerkin method for incompressible two‐phase flow in porous media

We analyze a combined method consisting of the mixed finite element method for pressure equation and the discontinuous Galerkin method for saturation equation for the coupled system of incompressible two‐phase flow in porous media. The existence and uniqueness of numerical solutions are established under proper conditions by using a constructive approach. Optimal error estimates in L²(H¹) for saturation and in L ^∞ (H(div)) for velocity are derived. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Existence of local‐in‐time classical solutions of a model of flow in a bounded elastic tube

This paper studies the local‐in‐time existence of classical solutions to a hyperbolic system with differential boundary conditions modelling a flow in an elastic tube. The well‐known Lax transformations used for obtaining a priori estimates for conservation laws are difficult to apply here because of the inhomogeneity of the partial differential equations (PDE). Rather, our method relies on a suitable splitting of the original system into the PDE part and the ODE part, the characteristics for the PDE part, appropriate modulus of continuity estimates and a compactness argument. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Significance of plaque morphology in modifying flow characteristics in a diseased coronary artery: Numerical simulation using plaque measurements from intravascular ultrasound imaging

The paper deals with numerical investigation of the effect of plaque morphology on the flow characteristics in a diseased coronary artery using realistic plaque morphology. The morphological information of the lumen and the plaque is obtained from intravascular ultrasound imaging measurements of 42 patients performed at Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio. For this data, study of Bhaganagar et al. (2010) [1] has revealed the stenosis for 42 patients can be categorized into four types – type I (peak-valley), type II (ascending), type III (descending), and type IV (diffuse). The aim of the present study is to isolate the effect of shape of the stenosis on the flow characteristics for a given degree of the stenosis. In this study, we conduct fluid dynamic simulations for the four stenosis types (type I–IV) and analyze the differences in the flow characteristics between these types. Finely refined tetrahedral mesh for the 3-D solid model of the artery with plaques has been generated. The 3-D steady flow simulations were performed using the turbulence (k–ε) model in a finite volume based computational fluid dynamics solver. The axial velocity, the radial velocity, turbulence kinetic energy and wall shear stress profiles of the plaque have been analyzed. From the axial and radial velocity profiles results the differences in the velocity patterns are significantly visible at proximal as well as distal to the throat, region of maximum stenosis. Turbulent kinetic energy and wall shear stress profiles have revealed significant differences in the vicinity of the plaque. Additional unsteady flow simulations have been performed to validate the hypothesis of the significance of plaque morphology in flow alterations in diseased coronary artery. The results revealed the importance of accounting for plaque morphology in addition to plaque height to accurately characterize the turbulent flow in a diseased coronary artery.     

3‐D spatio–temporal structures of biofilms in a water channel

We develop a numerical predictive tool for multiphase fluid mixtures consisting of biofilms grown in a viscous fluid matrix by implementing a second‐order finite difference discretization of the multiphase biofilm model developed recently on a general purpose graphic processing unit. With this numerical tool, we study a 3‐D biomass–flow interaction resulting in biomass growth, structure formation, deformation, and detachment phenomena in biofilms grown in a water channel in quiescent state and subject to a shear flow condition, respectively. The numerical investigation is limited in the viscous regime of the biofilm–solvent mixture. In quiescent flows, the model predicts growth patterns consistent with experimental findings for single or multiple adjacent biofilm colonies, the so‐called mushroom shape growth pattern. The simulated biomass growth both in density and thickness matches very well with the experimentally grown biofilm in a water channel. When shear is imposed at a boundary, our numerical studies reproduce wavy patterns, pinching, and streaming phenomena observed in biofilms grown in a water channel. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A finite element method for heat transfer of power‐law flow in channels with a transverse magnetic field

Heat transfer of a power‐law non‐Newtonian incompressible fluid in channels with porous walls has not been carefully studied using a proper numerical method despite a few constructions of approximate analytic solutions through the similarity transformation and perturbation method for Newtonian fluids (i.e. power‐law index being one). In this paper, we propose a finite element method for the thermal incompressible flow equations. The incompressible condition is treated by a penalty formulation. Numerical solutions are validated by comparing them with an approximate analytic solution of the Navier–Stokes equation in the Newtonian fluid case. Then, the method is used to simulate the heat transfer of various power‐law fluids. Additionally, unlike previous studies, we allow the thermal diffusivity to be a function of temperature gradient. The effect of different values of the parameters on the temperature and velocity is also discussed in this paper. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study of a numerical scheme for miscible two‐phase flow in porous media

We study the convergence of a finite volume scheme for a model of miscible two‐phase flow in porous media. In this model, one phase can dissolve into the other one. The convergence of the scheme is proved thanks to an estimate on the two pressures, which allows to prove some estimates on the discrete time derivative of some nonlinear functions of the unknowns. Monotony arguments allow to show some properties on the limits of these functions. A key point in the scheme is to use particular averaging formula for the dissolution function arising in the space term. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 30: 723–748, 2014     

固壁近旁Stokes流中粘性液滴的运动和变形

发展了一种模拟固壁近旁轴对称Stokes流中粘性液滴的运动和变形及直接计算固壁上应力的边界积分方法．用此方法对不同的液滴-固壁初始相对间距、粘度比、表面张力和浮力联合参数以及环境流动参数情况进行了数值实验．数值结果显示,由于环境流动和浮力的作用,随着时间的推进,液滴在轴向压缩,在径向拉伸．当环境流动的作用弱于浮力作用时,随着时间的推移,液滴上升并向上弯,固壁上由液滴运动所引起的应力不断减小．当环境流动的作用强于浮力作用时,随着时间的推移,液滴变得越来越扁．在这种情形,当大初始间距时,壁面上的应力随液滴的演变而增大;当小初始间距时,由环境流动、浮力及壁面对流动的较强作用的联合影响,此应力随液滴的演变而减小．由于液滴运动所引起的壁面应力的有效作用仅限于对称轴附近的一个小范围内,且此范围随液滴与固壁的初始间距增大而增大．应力的大小随初始间距增大而大为减小．表面张力对液滴变形有阻止作用．液滴粘性会减小液滴的变形和位置迁移．     

A hybrid legendre tau method for the solution of a class of nonlinear wave equations with nonlinear dissipative terms

This article presents a technique based on the hybrid Legendre tau‐finite difference method to solve the fourth order wave equation which arises in the elasto‐plastic‐microstructure models for longitudinal motion of an elasto‐plastic bar. Illustrative examples and numerical results obtained using new technique demonstrate that the proposed approach is efficient in treating longitudinal equation of ealsto‐plastic bar. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 27: 1055–1071, 2011     

Well‐posedness of a generalized time‐harmonic transport equation for acoustics in flow

We study a generalized time‐harmonic transport equation, which appears in the Goldstein equations and allows us to model the acoustic radiation in a flow. We investigate the well‐posedness of this transport problem. The result will be established under the assumption of a Ω‐filling flow, which, in 2D, is simply equivalent to a flow that does not vanish. The approach relies on the method of characteristics, which leads to the resolution of the transport equation along the streamlines, and on general results of functional analysis. The theoretical results are illustrated with numerical results obtained with a Streamline Upwind Petrov‐Galerkin finite element scheme.