Finite element Galerkin approach for a computational study of arterial flow

A finite element solution for the Navier-Stokes equations for steady flow t hrough a double branched two dimensional section of three dimensional model of canine aorta is obtained, The numerical technique involves transformati on of the physical coordinates to a curvilinear boundary fitted coordinate system. The shear stress at the wall is calculated for Reynolds number of 1 000 with branch to main aortic flow rate ratio as a parameter. The results are compared with earlier works involving experimental data and it is obser ved that the results are very close to their solutions. This work in fact i s an improvement of the work of Sharma and Kapoor (1995) in the sense that computations scheme is economic and Reynolds number is large.