Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of Blood As a Heterogeneous Fluid

As the medical field continues to increase its effectiveness and scope, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has become essential to understanding flow mechanics cardiovascular systems. Many simulations and experiments have been conducted to confirm the behavior of blood within veins and arteries, under both Newtonian and non-Newtonian conditions. Traditionally, these simulations have been conducted where blood is represented as a homogeneous fluid. However, blood is a heterogeneous fluid mixture, consisting of fluid plasma and solid components of red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), and platelets. The effects of the heterogeneity of blood becomes more influential in blood flows through smaller diameter vessels and high velocity flows, as the addition of particles will create variations in flow speed, shear stress, and fluid displacement due to particle-particle and particle-wall collisions [1].