Effect of Blood Rheological Models on Patient Specific Cardiovascular System Simulations

Newtonian and Quemada blood viscosity models are implemented in order to simulate the rheological behavior of blood under pulsating flow conditions in a patient specific iliac bifurcation. The influence of the applied blood constitutive equations is monitored via the Wall Shear Stress (WSS) distribution, magnitude and oscillations, non-Newtonian importance factors, and viscosity values according to the shear rate. The distribution of WSS on the vascular wall follows a pattern which is independent of the chosen rheological model. On the other hand, the WSS magnitude and oscillations are directly related to the applied blood constitutive equations and the shear rate. It is concluded that the Newtonian approximation may be regarded satisfactory only in high shear and flow rates.