Mathematical Modeling of Blood Flow in an Artery with an Unsteady Stenosis using Power-Law Fluid Model

Abstract

This study examines the characteristics of unsteady blood flow in an artery with a time dependent stenosis using the Power-Law fluid model. Mathematical and computational models are developed to determine the leading order flow velocity, pressure gradient, impedance and wall shear stress at the throats and at the critical height of the stenosis and we investigate dependence of these quantities on the temporal and spatial variables as well as on the frequency of the flow oscillation in time and the main parameters of the flow system. We find that as the size of stenosis increased with time and frequency, the values of the magnitude of the axial velocity, the impedance and the wall shear stress in the stenosis zone increased. We also find that magnitudes of these quantities are higher for the Newtonian fluid than for non-Newtonian