EFFECTS OF CURVATURE AND STENOSIS-LIKE NARROWING ON WALL SHEAR-STRESSIN A CORONARY-ARTERY MODEL WITH PHASIC FLOW

To gain insight into the details of intracoronary flow we have used co mputational fluid dynamic techniques to determine the velocity and wal l shear stress distributions in both steady- and phasic-flow models of a curved coronary artery with several degrees of stenosis. The steady -flow Reynolds number was 500 and the peak phasic flow Reynolds number was 700. Without stenosis and at 25% (area) stenosis wall shear stres s and velocities are higher at the outer wall than the inner wall but retain the same direction as the superimposed how. At higher stenoses laminar flow separation occurs and the inner wall is exposed to shear stresses that vary widely, both temporally and spatially. (C) 1997 Aca demic Press.