Newtonian And Non-Newtonian Blood Flow At A 90 Degrees-Bifurcation Of The Cerebral Artery: A Comparative Study Of Fluid Viscosity Models

Frolov, S.; Sindeev, S.; Liepsch, D.; Balasso, A.; Arnold, P.; Kirschke, J. S.; Prothmann, S. and Potlov, A. Yu (2018): Newtonian And Non-Newtonian Blood Flow At A 90 Degrees-Bifurcation Of The Cerebral Artery: A Comparative Study Of Fluid Viscosity Models. In: Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology, Vol. 18, No. 5, 1850043

Abstract

The majority of numerical simulations assumes blood as a Newtonian fluid due to an underestimation of the effect of non-Newtonian blood behavior on hemodynamics in the cerebral arteries. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of non-Newtonian blood properties on hemodynamics in the idealized 90 degrees-bifurcation model, using Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids and different flow rate ratios between the parent artery and its branch. The proposed Local viscosity model was employed for high-precision representation of blood viscosity changes. The highest velocity differences were observed at zones with slow recirculating flow. During the systolic peak the average difference was 17-22%, whereas at the end of diastole the difference increased to 27-60% depending on the flow rate ratio. The main changes in the viscosity distribution were observed distal to the flow separation point, where the non-Newtonian fluid model produced 2.5 times higher viscosity. A presence of such high viscosity region substantially affected the size of the flow recirculation zone. The observed differences showed that non-Newtonian blood behavior had a significant effect on hemodynamic parameters and should be considered in the future studies of blood flow in cerebral arteries.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Geosciences > Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
• Subjects: 500 Science > 550 Earth sciences and geology
• ISSN: 0219-5194
• Language: English