UNDERSTANDING OF NAVIER-STOKES EQUATIONS VIA A MODEL FOR BLOOD FLOW

  • Choi, Joon-Hyuck (Department of Internal Medicine Daegu Catholic University) ;
  • Kang, Nam-Lyong (Department of Nanomedical Engineering Pusan National University) ;
  • Choi, Sang-Don (Department of Physics Kyungpook National University)
  • Published : 2007.03.30

Abstract

A pedagogic model for blood flow is introduced to help medicine majors understand a simplified version of Navier-Stokes equations which is known to be a good tool for interpreting the phenomena in blood flow. The pressure gradient consists of a time-independent part known as Hagen-Poiseuille's gradient and a time-dependent part known as Sexl's, and the model formula for the volume rate of blood flow is reduced to a very simple form. For demonstration, the blood rate in human aorta system is analyzed in connection with the time-dependence of pressure gradient. It is shown for Sexl's part that the flow rate lags the pressure gradient by ${\pi}/2$, which is thought to be due to the relaxation process involved.

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