Investigating the impact of non-Newtonian blood models within a heart pump.

A detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study of transient, turbulent blood flow through a positive displacement left ventricular assist device is performed. Two common models for non-Newtonian blood flow are compared to the Newtonian model to investigate their impact on predicted levels of shear rate and wall shear stress. Given that both parameters are directly relevant to the evaluation of risk from thrombus and haemolysis, there is a need to assess the sensitivity to modelling non-Newtonian flow effects within a pulsatile turbulent flow, in order to identify levels of uncertainly in CFD. To capture the effects of turbulence, the elliptic blending Reynolds stress model is used in the present study, on account of superior performance of second moment closure schemes previously identified by the present authors. The CFD configuration includes two cyclically rotating valves and a moving pusher plate to periodically vary the chamber volume. An overset mesh algorithm is used for each instance of mesh motion, and a zero gap technique was employed to ensure full valve closure. The left ventricular assist device was operated at a pumping rate of 86 BPM (beats per minute) and a systolic duration of 40% of the pumping cycle, in line with existing experimental data to which comparisons are made. The sensitivity of the variable viscosity models is investigated in terms of mean flow field, levels of turbulence and global shear rate, and a non-dimensional index is used to directly evaluate the impact of non-Newtonian effects. The clinical relevance of the results is reported along with a discussion of modelling uncertainties, observing that the turbulent kinetic energy is generally predicted to be higher in non-Newtonian flow than that observed in Newtonian flow. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Assessment of turbulence models for pulsatile flow inside a heart pump.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is applied to study the unsteady flow inside a pulsatile pump left ventricular assist device, in order to assess the sensitivity to a range of commonly used turbulence models. Levels of strain and wall shear stress are directly relevant to the evaluation of risk from haemolysis and thrombosis, and thus understanding the sensitivity to these turbulence models is important in the assessment of uncertainty in CFD predictions. The study focuses on a positive displacement or pulsatile pump, and the CFD model includes valves and moving pusher plate. An unstructured dynamic layering method was employed to capture this cyclic motion, and valves were simulated in their fully open position to mimic the natural scenario, with in/outflow triggered at control planes away from the valves. Six turbulence models have been used, comprising three relevant to the low Reynolds number nature of this flow and three more intended to investigate different transport effects. In the first group, we consider the shear stress transport (SST) [Formula: see text] model in both its standard and transition-sensitive forms, and the 'laminar' model in which no turbulence model is used. In the second group, we compare the one equation Spalart-Almaras model, the standard two equation [Formula: see text] and the full Reynolds stress model (RSM). Following evaluation of spatial and temporal resolution requirements, results are compared with available experimental data. The model was operated at a systolic duration of 40% of the pumping cycle and a pumping rate of 86 BPM (beats per minute). Contrary to reasonable preconception, the 'transition' model, calibrated to incorporate additional physical modelling specifically for these flow conditions, was not noticeably superior to the standard form of the model. Indeed, observations of turbulent viscosity ratio reveal that the transition model initiates a premature increase of turbulence in this flow, when compared with both experimental and higher order numerical results previously reported in the literature. Furthermore, the RSM is indicated to provide the most accurate prediction over much of the flow, due to its ability to more correctly account for three-dimensional effects. Finally, the clinical relevance of the results is reported along with a discussion on the impact of such modelling uncertainties.