Fluid/Structure Interaction applied to the simulation of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

Aneurysms are a local dilatation of a vessel wall of at least twice the normal diameter (commonly accepted definition). They are asymptomatic and rupture is often lethal. Thus, prediction of rupture is an important stake. Aiming at a diagnosis tool relying on patient specific data and general physiological values, we created a virtual aneurysm model based on real imaging data. Fluid/structure interaction (FSI) simulations were made to compute the displacement and stress for the wall. For the fluid, the only in vivo measures used were for the inlet velocity. The mandatory output boundary condition has been implemented with the first order Windkessel model equations. Structure has been much more complicated to handle because of the association of a realistic geometry (no symmetry) and a full fluid/structure interaction approach. We used surface elements to stabilize the structure and to model surrounding organs. Validation parameters are the displacement, the Von Mises stress and the pressure profile at the outlet. The main difference with other studies relies on the association of all these elements in order to prepare industrial applications as the main goal of this study was to build an automated tool easy to use by people who are not experts in numerical simulation