BIORHEOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF ARTERIAL FLOW NEAR BIFURCATIONS

The manner in which the steady flow of a low viscous fluid (representi ng blood) divides at a junction (where a straight single branch leaves the straight parent trunk) is numerically investigated by adopting co nformal mapping techniques in terms of the significant dimensionless p arameters: the entrance flow rate index p, the branch diameter ratio b eta, and the angle of branching alpha. The ratio of the flow rate in t he side branch to the flow rate in the main branch, gamma, is found to increase with a reduction in the flow index p and with an increase in beta. The problem is analyzed by a numerical approach and a visualiza tion technique is employed to establish the existence of two interdepe ndent separation regions, one in each branch. The location of the occu rrence of separation and the size of the separated regions are found t o be dependent on the value of gamma. The study depicts the formation, growth, and shedding of vortices in the separated region of the main branch and the double-helicoidal flow in the side branch.