Experimental and numerical study of pulsatile flows through stenosis: Wall shear stress analysis

Different shapes of pulsatile flows through a model of stenosis are experimentally and numerically modeled to validate both methods and to determine the wall shear stress temporal evolution downstream from the stenosis. Two-dimensional velocity measurements are performed in a 75% severity stenosis using a pulsed Doppler ultrasonic velocimeter. Finite element package is employed for the transient numerical simulations. Polynomial method, based on the experimental velocity values, is proposed to determine the wall shear stress temporal evolution. There is a good agreement between the numerical and experimental results. The wall shear stress temporal analysis shows oscillating wall shear stress values during the cycle with high wall shear stress values at the throat of about 120 dyn/cm(2), and low values downstream from the stenosis of about - 2.5 dyn/cm(2). The key result of the study is that the presence of the stenosis leads the artery to work in a direction which is opposite to the direction of a healthy artery. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.