Blood Analog Fluid Flow in Vessels with Stenosis: Development of an Openfoam Code to Simulate Pulsatile Flow and Elasticity of the Fluid

Abstract

The present work reports a numerical study of the flow of a blood analog fluid in vessels with a stenosis using OpenFOAM code. The CFD package OpenFOAM was selected to perform the numerical study because it is an open software package that can be freely modified. Pulsatile flow and elasticity of a blood analog fluid were considered and implemented in a numerical code. Velocity profiles were obtained for an artery with a stenosis, considering constant inlet velocity and elasticity of blood analog fluid. The profiles obtained through OpenFOAM are in agreement with those obtained through the analytical solution. Velocity profiles were also obtained for a bifurcation with a stenosis, considering pulsatile flow and shear-thinning of the fluid. The profiles obtained through OpenFOAM are in agreement with those obtained by ANSYS.