A study of non-newtonian aspects of blood flow through stenosed arteries and its applications in arterial diseases

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Chaturani, P. | Ponnalagar Samy, R.

Affiliations: Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Bombay 400 076, India

Note: [] Accepted by: Editor R. Riha

Abstract: Blood flow through a stenosed artery has been investigated in this paper. Blood has been represented by a non-Newtonian fluid obeying Herschel-Bulkley equation. This model has been used to study the influence of the fluid behaviour index n, shear-dependent nonlinear viscosity K and the yield stress τH in blood flow through stenosed arteries. The variation of the wall shear stress and the flow resistance with n, K and τH has been shown graphically. It is observed that the wall shear stress and the flow resistance increase in Herschel-Bulkley fluid in comparison with corresponding Newtonian fluid. It is of interest to note that, in the present model, the thickness of the plug core varies with the axial distance z in the stenotic region. Finally, some biological implications of the present model for some arterial diseases have been briefly discussed.

Keywords: Stenosis, Blood flow, Non-Newtonian fluid flow

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1985-22606

Journal: Biorheology, vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 521-531, 1985