Numerical study on three-dimensional unsteady blood flow through an arterywith a small side branch

Three-dimensional unsteady blood flow through an artery with a small side b ranch was numerically analyzed using the finite-element method. Our main fo cus was on the model in which the angle between the trunk and the small sid e branch was larger than 90 deg. This arterial geometry is generally observ ed in a real arterial system. For this study, the arterial wall was assumed to be rigid and the non-Newtonian effect of blood was not taken into consi deration. The calculation results are summarized as follows, 1) The branch angle does not have a strong effect on the how rate through the side branch . 2) In the case of a large branch angle, the still-standing stagnation poi nt appears near the outer wall of the small side branch, Moreover, this sti ll-standing stagnation point has an effect of increasing the values of wall shear stress gradient (WSSG).