Abstract
In this work we investigate the potentialities of multi-scale engineering techniques to approach complex problems related to biomedical and biological fields. In particular we study the interaction between blood and blood vessel focusing on the presence of an aneurysm. The study of each component of the cardiovascular system is very difficult due to the fact that the movement of the fluid and solid is determined by the rest of system through dynamical boundary conditions. The use of multi-scale techniques allows us to investigate the effect of the whole loop on the aneurysm dynamic. A three-dimensional fluid-structure interaction model for the aneurysm is developed and coupled to a mono-dimensional one for the remaining part of the cardiovascular system, where a point zero-dimensional model for the heart is provided. In this manner it is possible to achieve rigorous and quantitative investigations of the cardiovascular disease without loosing the system dynamic. In order to study this biomedical problem we use a monolithic fluid-structure interaction (FSI) model where the fluid and solid equations are solved together. The use of a monolithic solver allows us to handle the convergence issues caused by large deformations. By using this monolithic approach different solid and fluid regions are treated as a single continuum and the interface conditions are automatically taken into account. In this way the iterative process characteristic of the commonly used segregated approach, it is not needed any more.
Highlights
In this work the potentialities of a monolithic FEM fluid-structure interaction (FSI) approach for the computational investigation of an abdominal aortic aneurysm are investigated
The development of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) is associated with alterations of the tissue in the aortic wall, in particular collagen degradation, which leads to the loss of elasticity of the vessel
The lower chamber is loaded with a pressure and the soft material undergoes to large deformation
Summary
In this work the potentialities of a monolithic FEM fluid-structure interaction (FSI) approach for the computational investigation of an abdominal aortic aneurysm are investigated. The development of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) is associated with alterations of the tissue in the aortic wall, in particular collagen degradation, which leads to the loss of elasticity of the vessel. This process can lead to the rupture of the aneurysm with consequent internal bleeding. A monolithic approach, which solves the fluid and the structure problems in a coupled way, can bring significant advantages concerning the stability issues. This approach is, CPU time expensive and not suitable to simulate a large portion of the circulatory system.
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