A comparative study of linear and nonlinear simulations of the leaflets in a bioprosthetic heart valve during the cardiac cycle

Two geometrically identical models of the leaflets of a bicuspid bioprosthetic heart valve have been constructed using finite elements. The boundary conditions applied to the models were also identical but a linear material model has been used in one and a nonlinear elastic model in the other. The models were fullscale and contained 2600 Belytschko-Lin-Tsai shell elements which allowed the variation of stress through the thickness of the leaflet to be modelled. A time-varying, spatially-uniform pressure differential was applied across the leaflets to model their behaviour during a complete cardiac cycle. The simulation was performed using a dynamic, explicit, time-stepping, finite element code. A comparison of the two models showed that the nonlinear model was more responsive to the time-varying pressure wave, and deformed into more complex shapes during the opening and closing phases which induced lower compressive but higher tensile stresses in the leaflets.