Numerical investigations of the wall shear stress behaviour in curved coronary arteries

Abstract

This paper presents numerical investigations on wall shear stress (WSS) profiles in three-dimensional pulsatile flow through curved stenotic coronary arteries. Clinical evidence has shown that plaque tends to form in the low and oscillatory WSS regions. Direct numerical simulations are carried out in threedimensional models of the curved arteries with three different degrees of stenosis (0%, 50% and 90%). Low and oscillatory WSS is found near the inner wall of curved artery distal to the stenosis. It is only in the severe stenosis case that a chaotic WSS region is observed downstream of stenosis.