Numerical simulation of blood flow in the right coronary artery with particle chain

Abstract

In this paper, we study the effect of blood flow in the right coronary artery with a particle chain. Blood is assumed to be incompressible non-Newtonian fluid and its motion is described by the continuity equation and the Navier-Stokes equations. The pulsatile condition due to the heart pump is imposed on the inlet and outlet boundaries. Numerical technique based on finite volume method (FVM) is implemented for the solution of the problem. Two shapes of the particle chain including S-shape and U-shape are used to analyze the flow pattern and pressure distribution along the flow direction. The results indicate that the shape of particle chain has significant effect on the blood flow behavior. At the bifurcation area, blood speed is high around the arterial center of the model with U-shape set of particles, but in the model with S-shape set of particles, it is high near the arterial wall.