A computer simulation of the non-Newtonian blood flow at the aortic bifurcation.

A two-dimensional numerical model was developed to determine the effect of the non-Newtonian behavior of blood on a pulsatile flow at the aortic bifurcation. The blood rheology was described by a weak-form Casson equation. The successive-over-relaxation (SOR) method was used to solve both the vorticity and Poisson equations numerically. It was disclosed that the non-Newtonian property of blood did not drastically change the flow patterns, but caused an appreciable increase in the shear stresses and a slightly higher resistance to both flow separations and the phase shifts between flow layers.