Fluid-structure interaction model of blood flow in abdominal aortic aneurysms with thermic treatment

Abstract

Hyperthermia is one of the non-invasive therapy of an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA), which is achieved by applying a heat source upon the AAA without surgical operation. This research paper considers laminar flow and heat transfer in a heated abdominal aortic aneurysm using an isothermal boundary condition. Heat is added to explicate the thermal treatment of a diseased artery. The blood is assumed as a non-Newtonian fluid based on the shear-thinning Carreau model. Two unequal aneurysms are assumed in the lower wall to simulate bulges or a disordered artery. Flexible wall segments are assumed in the upper wall and opposing to each aneurysm. The transient momentum and energy equations are solved based on the fluid–structure interaction (FSI) using the Arbitrary-Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method. It is found that the shear stress is much higher for a higher index of the power-law fluid governing the blood viscosity and hence, it is strictly recommended to reduce the viscous nature of the blood in diseased vessels. It is found also that the thermal energy can be greatly transported across the blood at a higher Reynolds number, this means that the hyperthermia therapy becomes effective when blood flows violently through the aortic.

Keywords

• Forced convection
• Heat transfer
• Carreau non-Newtonian model
• Blood flow
• Fluid–structure interaction
• Abdominal aortic aneurysms