Numerical study of the effects of periodic body acceleration (PGZ) and bifurcation angle in the stenosed artery bifurcation

Abstract

This article describes the numerical investigation of blood flow in the stenosed artery bifurcation with acceleration of the human body. Using the commercial software FLUENT, three-dimensional analyses were performed for six simulation cases with different body accelerations and bifurcation angles. The blood flow was considered to be pulsation flow, and the blood was considered to be a non-Newtonian fluid based on the Carreau viscosity model. In order to consider periodic body acceleration, a modified, time-dependent, gravitational-force term was used in the momentum equation. As a result, flow variables, such as flow rate and wall shear stress, increase with body acceleration and decrease with bifurcation angle. High values of body acceleration generate back flow during the diastolic period, which increases flow fluctuation and the oscillatory shear index at the stenosis.