Investigation of spiral blood flow in a model of arterial stenosis

The spiral component of blood flow has both beneficial and detrimental effects in human circulatory system [Stonebridge PA, Brophy CM. Spiral laminar flow in arteries? Lancet 1991; 338: 1360–1]. We investigate the effects of the spiral blood flow in a model of three-dimensional arterial stenosis with a 75% cross-sectional area reduction at the centre by means of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques. The standard κ–ω model is employed for simulation of the blood flow for the Reynolds number of 500 and 1000. We find that for Re = 500 the spiral component of the blood flow increases both the total pressure and velocity of the blood, and some significant differences are found between the wall shear stresses of the spiral and non-spiral induced flow downstream of the stenosis. The turbulent kinetic energy is reduced by the spiral flow as it induces the rotational stabilities in the forward flow. For Re = 1000 the tangential component of the blood velocity is most influenced by the spiral speed, but the effect of the spiral flow on the centreline turbulent kinetic energy and shear stress is mild. The results of the effects of the spiral flow are discussed in the paper along with the relevant pathological issues

Pulsatile spiral blood flow through arterial stenosis

Pulsatile spiral blood flow in a modelled three-dimensional arterial stenosis, with a 75% cross-sectional area reduction, is investigated by using numerical fluid dynamics. Two-equation k-ω model is used for the simulation of the transitional flow with Reynolds numbers 500 and 1000. It is found that the spiral component increases the static pressure in the vessel during the deceleration phase of the flow pulse. In addition, the spiral component reduces the turbulence intensity and wall shear stress found in the post-stenosis region of the vessel in the early stages of the flow pulse. Hence, the findings agree with the results of Stonebridge et al. (2004). In addition, the results of the effects of a spiral component on time-varying flow are presented and discussed along with the relevant pathological issues

"Barber pole turbulence" in large aspect ratio Taylor-Couette flow

Investigations of counter-rotating Taylor-Couette flow (TCF) in the narrow gap limit are conducted in a very large aspect ratio apparatus. The phase diagram is presented and compared to that obtained by Andereck et al. The spiral turbulence regime is studied by varying both internal and external Reynolds numbers. Spiral turbulence is shown to emerge from the fully turbulent regime via a continuous transition appearing first as a modulated turbulent state, which eventually relaxes locally to the laminar flow. The connection with the intermittent regimes of the plane Couette flow (pCf) is discussed

LES of physiological blood flow in diseased basilar artery: semi-patient specific model

Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is applied to study physiological pulsatile spiral and non-spiral blood flow through a model of an irregular stenosis with an adjacent post-stenotic fusiform irregular aneurysm in basilar artery. The stenosis and the aneurysm are of 75% area reduction and 126% area enlargement, respectively, at their centres [1]. Numerical results of various important physical quantities are presented to particularly investigate the transition-to-turbulence nature of the pulsatile flow with their relevant clinical implications

Simulations of microflows induced by rotation of spirals in microchannels

In microflows where Reynolds number is much smaller than unity, screwing motion of spirals is an effective mechanism of actuation as proven by microorganisms which propel themselves with the rotation of their helical tails. The main focus of this study is to analyze the flow enabled by means of a rotating spiral inside a rectangular channel, and to identify effects of parameters that control the flow, namely, the frequency and amplitude of rotations and the axial span between the helical rounds, which is the wavelength. The time-dependent three-dimensional flow is modeled by Stokes equation subject to continuity in a time-dependent deforming domain due to the rotation of the spiral. Parametric results are compared with asymptotic results presented in literature to describe the flagellar motion of microorganisms