Effect of Non-Newtonian Blood Flow on WSS and Reversed Flow Regions in Carotid Artery Bifurcation

The experimental observations and computational methods are used for research on flow through the carotid artery bifurcation as one of the favored sites of arterial diseases such as atherosclerosis. Hemodynamic factors have been suggested to be important in atherosclerosis. To understand the correlation between atherosclerosis and fluid dynamics in the carotid sinus, the blood flow in artery was simulated numerically. In many studies the blood is treated Newtonian fluid. In fact, however, the blood is a complicated nonNewtonian fluid with shear thinning and viscoelastic properties, especially when the shear rate is low. In this study, the Newtonian and non-Newtonian model is considered for comparison of results especially in low Wall Shear Stress (WSS) and reverse flow at bifurcation. The comparison of simulation results indicates that there is a little difference between Newtonian and non-Newtonian model, and on the other hand, the Newtonian flow is a good approximation to blood for flow simulations in the carotid artery bifurcation.

Keywords:

Carotid artery bifurcation , Newtonian model , Carreau-Yasuda model , Low WSS region