Cardiovascular Fluid

Mechanics

Introduction
Dr. Raghvendra Gupta
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati

IIT, Guwahati 1
 Course prerequisites
Designed for engineers with a background in basic fluid mechanics
The students are suggested to review:
Properties of fluids e.g. viscosity
Navier-Stokes Equations and its derivation
Hagen-Poiseuille Equation
Laminar, steady, fully-developed flow

Jean Lonard Marie Poiseuille: A

French physicist and physiologist
Image: Wikipedia

IIT, Guwahati 2
 Cardiovascular System
Also called circulatory system
The system includes
Blood vessels: a series of tubes
filled with blood: fluid
connected to heart: the pump

Hemodynamics: Study of blood flow

Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circulatory_system

IIT, Guwahati 3
 Cardiovascular System: Functions
Transport nutrients (oxygen, amino acids, electrolytes) to body tissues
Transport waste products (cellular waste, CO2) away for excretion
Transport hormones from one part of the body to other
Maintain the visceral organs at a constant temperature

From a chemical engineers perspective, all the functions involve

Fluid flow: Blood flow
Heat transfer: Maintaining the body at a constant temperature
Mass transfer: Gas and nutrient exchange

IIT, Guwahati 4
 Cardiovascular System

Systemic Circulation:
Supplies blood to all the tissues except lungs
Also known as greater or peripheral circulation
Left heart pumps blood
Pulmonary Circulation:
Supplies blood to lungs
Right heart pumps blood

Image from Guyton and Hall, 2006

IIT, Guwahati 5
 Systemic Circulation

Oxygenated blood pumped through the left ventricle

Supplied to aorta through aortic valve
From aorta, to different arteries, arterioles and capillaries.
The gas and nutrient exchange happens in capillaries.
From capillaries to venules, to veins
Returned back to right atrium to via vena cava.
Enters right ventricle through tricuspid valve.

Image from Guyton and Hall, 2006

IIT, Guwahati 6
 Pulmonary Circulation

Deoxygenated blood pumped through right ventricles

To pulmonary arteries via pulmonary valve
Brought to lungs for gas exchange
The fresh blood is brought to left atrium by pulmonary veins
From left atrium the blood to the left ventricle via mitral valve

Image from Guyton and Hall, 2006

IIT, Guwahati 7
 Coronary Circulation
Blood supply to the heart
Main coronary artery lies at the surface of the heart
Insufficient coronary blood flow: Ischemic heart
disease a very common cause of death
Diagnosis as well as surgical procedures require an
understanding of flow behaviour

Image from Guyton and Hall, 2006

5/19/17 IIT, Guwahati 8

 Cerebral Circulation

Blood supply to the brain

Flow rate : 750 ml/min; 15% of cardiac output
Too much blood: can raise intracranial pressure
Can compress and damage brain tissues
Too little blood: death of brain tissues
Cerebral Aneurysm:
Localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel

Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intracranial_aneurysm

5/19/17 IIT, Guwahati 9

 Heart: A Pump
Two separate pumps
Right heart: Pulmonary circulation
Left heart: Systemic circulation
Two chambers each
Ventricle: Supply the main pumping force
Atrium: acts as a primer pump
Causes pulsatile flow
Cardiac cycle: The cardiac events occurring
from the beginning of one heartbeat to the
beginning of the next
Total duration of cardiac cycle = 1/ heart rate
Image from Guyton and Hall, 2006

IIT, Guwahati 10
 Blood: A complex fluid

A suspension in plasma (a Newtonian fluid) of

Red blood cells (erythrocytes)
White blood cells (leukocytes)
Platelets (thrombocytes)
Blood viscosity: Newtonian behaviour at high shear rate
Viscoelastic behaviour
Tube diameter dependent behaviour for small tubes (< 300 m)
Hemorheology: The study of blood rheology

Image from
https://chubbyriceball.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/b
lood-component.jpg

5/19/17 IIT, Guwahati 11

 The Channels

Image from Pappano and Weir, 2013

Flexible channels with different distensibilities
Arteries: Strong vascular walls
Arterioles: Strong muscular walls, alter the blood flow in each tissue according to the need
Veins: Thin walls, muscular enough to contract or expand to act as controllable reservoir of blood
Often the channels are curved e.g. aorta

5/19/17 IIT, Guwahati 12

 Cardiac Output and Venous Return
Cardiac Output
Quantity of blood pumped into the aorta each minute by the heart
Sum of the blood flow to all of the tissues of the body
Quantity of the blood that flows through the circulation
For young healthy man, CO ~ 5.6 L/min; for woman, 4.9 L/min; On average taken as 5 L/min
Venous Return
Quantity of blood flowing from the veins into right atrium each minute
Must equal CO except for heartbeats when blood is temporarily stored in or removed from the
heart and lungs

5/19/17 IIT, Guwahati 13

Blood Distribution

84% in systemic circulation

64% in the veins
13% in the arteries
7% in the arterioles and capillaries
16% in the heart and lungs
7% in the heart
9% in pulmonary system

Image from Guyton and Hall, 2006

5/19/17 IIT, Guwahati 14

 Pressure in Circulatory System
Pulsatile nature in aorta and
arteries
Mean pressure 100 mm Hg
Systole:
Period of contraction,
High pressure 120 mm Hg
Diastole:
Period of relaxation,
Heart fills with blood,
Low pressure 80 mm Hg

Image from Guyton and Hall, 2006

5/19/17 IIT, Guwahati 15

 Pressure in Circulatory System
Systemic capillaries:
Non-pulsatile nature
35 mm Hg near arteriole ends
10 mm Hg near venous ends
Average functional pressure 17
mm Hg
~0 mm Hg pressure at the
termination of venae cavae

Image from Guyton and Hall, 2006

5/19/17 IIT, Guwahati 16

 Pressure in Circulatory System

Far less pressure in pulmonary circulation

Average artery pressure: 16 mm Hg
Systole pressure: 25 mmHg
Diastole pressure: 8 mmHg
Mean Capillary pressure 7 mm Hg

Image from Guyton and Hall, 2006

5/19/17 IIT, Guwahati 17

 Why study cardiovascular fluid dynamics?
Knowledge of cardiovascular pathologies
Development of diagnostic techniques such as
Angiography
Magnetic resonance imaging
Ultrasound Doppler velocimetry
Endovascular treatment of diseased arteries
Design of vascular prostheses
Development of prosthetic heart valves
Development of extracorporeal systems

IIT, Guwahati 18
Fluid Mechanical Problems of Interest
Rheology of fluids
Effect of suspended particles in tubes

Flow of flexible particles in microchannels

Flow distribution in a network of tubes

Flow in curved tubes
Pulsatile flow
Flow in flexible tubes

5/19/17 IIT, Guwahati 19