Numerical simulation of blood flow in coronary bifurcation

Abstract A numerical simulation of blood flow in a Y-shaped coronary artery was executed by constructing ideal geometric models. The influences of bifurcation angle, the initial velocity of inlet blood flow, and the diameter ratio of bifurcated vessels on the blood flow velocity field, wall shear stress, wall pressure, etc. were analyzed. The blood velocity at the bifurcation of the blood vessel was slower, while the wall shear stress and wall pressure value were higher. The wall shear stress and wall pressure increased with the increase of blood flow velocity at the entrance. Greater bifurcation angle led to higher wall shear stress. With the increase of the diameter ratio of the two branches, the maximum value of the shear stress became smaller. The probability of thrombosis formation increases as the diameter ratio increases. The numerical results showed that the bifurcation of the blood vessel is the optimal place to form the thrombosis.