Learning Forum

[oberstar]

I am working on a two phase simulation for pulsatile blood flow in a straight vessel with an injection into it from a catheter that is a constant flow rate.

I need to include a turbulence model but it appears to be a very big can of worms as to which turbulence model to pick as well as what parameters to implement on the chosen turbulence model.

Does anyone have any advise for model selection as well as parameter selection?

My pulsatile flow ranges from 20cm/sec to ~115cm/sec through a 6.35mm diameter "vessel" and the constant injection of 206cm/sec through a 1.17mm catheter.  the geometry is essentially two concentric tubes axially aligned.

[raul.raghav]

A quick calculation of the Reynolds number for case shows that the flow would be laminar (Re < 1000 based on a density of 1125 kg/m^3 for blood and viscosity assumed to be 10 times of that of water). Why do you say that you "need to include a turbulence model"?

Additionally, refer to the following paper which does a similar work with blood flow in different catheter geometries and how they implement a turbulence model:

Catheter-Tip Geometries for Optimizing

[José Mantovani]

I believe that the path our friend Raul has given him is the best. Search for literature on turbulence models for non-Newtonian fluids. Here are two possible references.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135410008675

http://www.bakker.org/dartmouth06/engs150/10-rans.pdf

Cheers,

Mantovani.