The development of an engineering transitional turbulence model and its subsequent evaluation and validation for some diseased cardiovascular flows have been suggestive of its likely utility in normal aortas. The existence of experimental data from human aortas, acquired in the early 1970s with catheter-mounted hot film velocimeters, provided the opportunity to compare the performance of the model on such flows. A generic human aorta, derived from magnetic resonance anatomical and velocity images of a young volunteer, was used as the basis for varying both Reynolds number (Re) and Womersley parameter (α) to match four experimental data points from human ascending aortas, comprising two with disturbed flow and two with apparently undisturbed flow. Trials were made with three different levels of inflow turbulence intensity (Tu) to find if a single level could represent the four different cases with 4000 < Re < 10,000 and 17 < α < 26. A necessary boundary condition includes the inflow “turbulence” level, and convincing results were obtained for all four cases with inflow Tu = 1.0%, providing additional confidence in the application of the transitional model in flows in larger arteries. The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS)-based shear stress transport (SST) transitional model is capable of capturing the correct flow state in the human aorta when low inflow turbulence intensity (1.0%) is specified.
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January 2013
Research-Article
A Numerical Study of Aortic Flow Stability and Comparison With In Vivo Flow Measurements
N. B. Wood,
N. B. Wood
Department of Chemical Engineering
,Imperial College London
,South Kensington Campus
,London SW7 2AZ
, UK
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W. A. Seed,
W. A. Seed
Faculty of Medicine (Emeritus)
,Imperial College London
,Charing Cross Campus
,London W6 8RP
, UK
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R. Torii,
R. Torii
Department of Chemical Engineering
,Imperial College London
,South Kensington Campus
,London SW7 2AZ
, UK
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D. O'Regan,
D. O'Regan
Institute of Clinical Science
,Imperial College London
,Hammersmith Campus
,London W12 0NN
, UK
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X. Y. Xu
e-mail: yun.xu@imperial.ac.uk
X. Y. Xu
1
Department of Chemical Engineering
,Imperial College London
,South Kensington Campus
,London SW7 2AZ
, UK
e-mail: yun.xu@imperial.ac.uk
1Corresponding author.
Search for other works by this author on:
N. B. Wood
Department of Chemical Engineering
,Imperial College London
,South Kensington Campus
,London SW7 2AZ
, UK
W. A. Seed
Faculty of Medicine (Emeritus)
,Imperial College London
,Charing Cross Campus
,London W6 8RP
, UK
R. Torii
Department of Chemical Engineering
,Imperial College London
,South Kensington Campus
,London SW7 2AZ
, UK
D. O'Regan
Institute of Clinical Science
,Imperial College London
,Hammersmith Campus
,London W12 0NN
, UK
X. Y. Xu
Department of Chemical Engineering
,Imperial College London
,South Kensington Campus
,London SW7 2AZ
, UK
e-mail: yun.xu@imperial.ac.uk
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Bioengineering Division of ASME for publication in the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering. Manuscript received January 17, 2012; final manuscript received October 9, 2012; accepted manuscript posted December 8, 2012; published online December 27, 2012. Assoc. Editor: Hai-Chao Han.
J Biomech Eng. Jan 2013, 135(1): 011003 (9 pages)
Published Online: December 27, 2012
Article history
Received:
January 17, 2012
Revision Received:
October 9, 2012
Accepted:
December 8, 2012
Citation
Kousera, C. A., Wood, N. B., Seed, W. A., Torii, R., O'Regan, D., and Xu, X. Y. (December 27, 2012). "A Numerical Study of Aortic Flow Stability and Comparison With In Vivo Flow Measurements." ASME. J Biomech Eng. January 2013; 135(1): 011003. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4023132
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