Unsteady blood flow of non-Newtonian fluid through a rigid artery in the presence of multi-irregular stenoses

Abstract

The pulsating flow of blood through a rigid artery in the presence of multi-irregular shaped stenoses is explored in this paper. Herschel–Bulkley fluid model is used for representing the characteristics of blood. The arterial wall is assumed to be rigid. The equations governing the flow are set up under appropriate assumptions and then solved by using standard perturbation method subject to the prescribed boundary conditions. The numerical values of steady component of pressure gradient are obtained by using Newton–Raphson method. The effects of yield stress, Womersley frequency parameter and severity of stenosis on the plug core radius, wall shear stress and resistance to the flow are shown diagrammatically and discussed in detail.