• Journal of computational fluids engineering
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.81-87
• /
• 2011

The importance of shear thinning non-Newtonian blood rheology on the hemodynamic characteristics of idealized cerebral saccular aneurysms were investigated by carrying out CFD simulations assuming two different non-Newtonian rheology models (Carreau and Ballyk models). To explore effects of vessel curvature, a straight and a curved vessel geometry were considered. The wall shear stress(WSS), relative residence time(RRT) and velocity distribution were compared at the different phases of cardiac cycle. As expected, blood entered the aneurysm at the distal neck and created large vortex in both aneurysms, but with higher momentum on the curved vessel. Hemodynamic characteristics such as WSS, and RRT exhibited only minor effects by choice of different rheological models although Ballyk model produced relatively higher effects. We conclude that the assumption of Newtonian fluid is reasonable for studies aimed at quantifying the hemodynamic characteristics, in particular, WSS-based parameters, considering the current accuracy level of medical image of cerebral aneurysm.