Effect of non-Newtonian viscosity on the fluid-dynamic characteristics in stenotic vessels

Abstract

Although blood is known to have shear-thinning and viscoelastic properties, the effects of such properties on the hemodynamic characteristics in various vascular environments are not fully understood yet. For a quantitative hemodynamic analysis, the refractive index of a transparent blood analogue needs to be matched with that of the flowing conduit in order to minimize the errors according to the distortion of the light. In this study, three refractive index-matched blood analogue fluids with different viscosities are prepared—one Newtonian and two non-Newtonian analogues—which correspond to healthy blood with 45 % hematocrit (i.e., normal non-Newtonian) and obese blood with higher viscosity (i.e., abnormal non-Newtonian). The effects of the non-Newtonian rheological properties of the blood analogues on the hemodynamic characteristics in the post-stenosis region of an axisymmetric stenosis model are experimentally investigated using particle image velocimetry velocity field measurement technique and pathline flow visualization. As a result, the centerline jet flow from the stenosis apex is suppressed by the shear-thinning feature of the blood analogues when the Reynolds number is smaller than 500. The lengths of the recirculation zone for abnormal and normal non-Newtonian blood analogues are 3.67 and 1.72 times shorter than that for the Newtonian analogue at Reynolds numbers smaller than 200. The Reynolds number of the transition from laminar to turbulent flow for all blood analogues increases as the shear-thinning feature increases, and the maximum wall shear stresses in non-Newtonian fluids are five times greater than those in Newtonian fluids. However, the shear-thinning effect on the hemodynamic characteristics is not significant at Reynolds numbers higher than 1000. The findings of this study on refractive index-matched non-Newtonian blood analogues can be utilized in other in vitro experiments, where non-Newtonian features dominantly affect the flow characteristics.