Journal of the Franklin Institute 348 (2011) 2308–2321

www.elsevier.com/locate/jfranklin

A study on two-layered model (Casson–Newtonian)

for blood flow through an arterial stenosis: Axially
variable slip velocity at the wall
R. Ponalagusamyn, R. Tamil Selvi
Department of Mathematics, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli 620015, Tamilnadu, India
Received 18 December 2009; received in revised form 16 June 2011; accepted 16 June 2011
Available online 28 June 2011

Abstract

The present paper sheds some light on a mathematical model for blood flow through stenosed
arteries with axially variable peripheral layer thickness and variable slip at the wall. The model
consists of a core region of suspension of all the erythrocytes assumed to be a Casson fluid and a
peripheral layer of plasma as a Newtonian fluid. For such models, in literature, the peripheral layer
thickness and slip velocity are assumed a priori based on experimental observations. In the present
analysis, new analytic expressions for the thickness of the peripheral layer, slip velocity and core
viscosity have been obtained in terms of measurable quantities (flow rate (Q), centerline velocity (U),
pressure gradient (dp/dz), plasma viscosity (mp) and yield stress (y)). Using the experimental values
of Q, U, (dp/dz), mp and y, the values of the peripheral layer thickness, core viscosity, and slip
velocity at the wall have been computed. The theoretically obtained peripheral layer thickness has
been compared with its experimental value. It is found that the agreement between the two is very
good (erroro1.4%). Further, a comparison between theoretical and experimental values of core
viscosity is made and it is observed that the error between the two becomes 3.7465% in the case of
two-layered model (Casson–Newtonian) for tube diameter 40 mm. The analysis developed here could
be used to determine the more accurate values of the apparent viscosity of blood, agreeability,
rigidity and deformability of red cells. This information of blood could be useful in the development
of new diagnosis tools for many diseases.
& 2011 The Franklin Institute. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

n
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: rpalagu@nitt.edu (R. Ponalagusamy).

0016-0032/$32.00 & 2011 The Franklin Institute. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfranklin.2011.06.020
 R. Ponalagusamy, R. Tamil Selvi / Journal of the Franklin Institute 348 (2011) 2308–2321 2309

1. Introduction

The presence of a constriction (medically called stenosis) in the lumen of an artery

disturbs the normal blood flow and causes arterial diseases (myocardial infarction and
cerebral strokes). It is known that hydrodynamic factors (e.g. wall shear stress) play a
pivotal role in the development and progression of arterial stenosis. Many investigators
[8,9,12,13,26,29,40,42] have pointed out that the fluid dynamic and rheologic properties of
blood and its flow behavior through tubes with non-uniform cross-sections could play an
important role in the fundamental understanding, diagnosis and treatment of many
cardiovascular diseases. There are many evidences that non-Newtonian behavior of fluids
and the flow type (laminar and turbulence) are responsible for bringing a rapid change in
hydrodynamic factors [38,39]. It is further understood that the hydrodynamic factors are
influenced by the presence of plasma layer near the arterial wall, ratio between viscosities
of blood and plasma and slip velocity at the arterial wall and hence that the mathematical
modeling of blood flow through a stenosed artery is very important in view of developing
the analytic formulas for computing plasma layer thickness, core viscosity and slip velocity
at the arterial wall.
Many investigators [5,29,17,7,24,19] have theoretically studied the flow of blood
through uniform and stenosed tubes and analyzed the influence of slip velocity or
peripheral plasma layer thickness on the flow variables such as velocity, wall shear stress
and flow resistance. In these models, the peripheral layer thickness and slip velocity are
assumed a priori based upon the experimental observations. Wang and Bassingthwaighte
[41] have considered a two fluid model for blood flow through a slightly curved tube by
assuming a constant peripheral plasma layer. Using experimental data, they have
calculated curve-fitted values of peripheral layer thickness and the ratio of core viscosity to
the peripheral plasma viscosity. It would be of interest to obtain the analytic expression for
them (slip and peripheral layer thickness) in terms of the measurable flow variables (flow
rates, pressure gradient, etc.).
Several researchers [42,16,10,33] have analyzed the flow of blood through an arterial
stenosis. Lee and Fung [15] have obtained the numerical results for the streamlines and
distribution of velocity, pressure, vorticity and the shear stress for different Reynolds
number in blood flow through locally constricted tubes. Rockwell et al. [27] have pointed
out that a reliable mathematical model of the cardiovascular circulatory system would be
very much useful for identifying pathologic patterns of flow rate and the corresponding
possible causes. O’Brien [21] has shown that it is possible to obtain the solutions for
pulsatile fully developed flow of Newtonian fluid in a channel by combining analytic
solutions of steady flow and oscillatory flow. In these models, the flow of blood is
represented by one-layered model. Bugliarello and Sevilla [3] and Bugliarello and Hayden
[4] have experimentally observed that when blood flows through narrow tubes there exists
a cell free plasma layer near the wall. In view of their experiments, it is preferable to
represent the flow of blood through narrow tubes by a two-layered model instead of one-
layered model.
Blood flow experiments [4,1] indicate the existence of slip at the tube wall. Nuber [20],
Brunn [2] and Hyman[14] have also reported the existence of slip at the blood vessels wall.
Oldroyd and Eirich [22] have reviewed the several treatments of slip at the walls of the
capillary tubes. In view of theoretical and experimental observations implying the existence
of slip at the wall, it is improper to ignore the slip in blood flow. It is also noted that in the
2310 R. Ponalagusamy, R. Tamil Selvi / Journal of the Franklin Institute 348 (2011) 2308–2321

literature, there is no direct formula to calculate the slip velocity. It is, therefore,
worthwhile to find a formula for determining the slip velocity at the wall.
Many authors [28,29] have taken two-layered models and analyzed the influence of
peripheral plasma viscosity on flow characteristics. Chaturani and Kaloni [5], Chaturani
and Ponalagusamy [6], Sankar and Lee [31], Sankar and Ismail [30], Sankar and Lee [32],
Ponalagusamy [25], Srivastava and Srivastava [35], Srivastava et al. [37] and Srivastava
and Rastogi [36] have considered the flow of blood represented by a two-layered model.
Srivastava and Saxena [34] have considered a two layered model (Casson–Newtonian) and
presented the analytic expressions for velocity profiles, flow rates, wall shear stress and
resistance to flow which are the same derived by Chaturani and Ponalagusamy [6]. In all
these models, the peripheral layer thickness is assumed a priori. It is, therefore, of interest
to obtain an analytic expression for the calculation of peripheral layer thickness.
The focus of this investigation is to obtain, for the first time, analytical expressions for
slip velocity, peripheral layer thickness and core viscosity in terms of measurable flow
variables (pressure gradient tube radius, flow rate, etc.).

2. Formulation of the problem

Consider an axially symmetric, steady, laminar and fully developed flow of blood through
an arterial stenosis as shown in Fig. 1. Here the flow of blood is represented by a two-layered
model (a core of red blood cell suspension surrounded by a peripheral layer of plasma (Fig.1)).
It is assumed that the rheology of blood in the core region has been characterized as a non-
Newtonian fluid obeying the law of Casson model and the peripheral layer of plasma as a
Newtonian fluid.
We shall take the cylindrical coordinate system (z,r,f) whose origin is located on the vessel
(stenosed artery) axis. The problem is investigated under the following assumptions [24]:

i) the motion is slow, so the inertia effects can be neglected,

ii) the variation of cross-section of the artery(tube) is considered to be very small,

Fig. 1. Geometry of stenosed artery (in dimensionless form).

 R. Ponalagusamy, R. Tamil Selvi / Journal of the Franklin Institute 348 (2011) 2308–2321 2311

iii) no body forces act on fluid and

iv) flow, which is due to the pressure gradient, is one-dimensional and fluid is incompressible.
The consistency function mðrÞmay be written as
mðrÞ ¼ mc for 0rrrR1 ðzÞ ð1Þ

¼ mp for R1 ðzÞrrrRðzÞ ð2Þ

where mc and mp are the viscosities of the central core fluid (Casson fluid) and the plasma
(Newtonian fluid), respectively, and R1 ðzÞ and RðzÞare the radii of the central core region
and the artery in the stenotic region. The peripheral layer is of axially variable thickness
dðzÞ: Thus, the core region is given by 0rrrR1 ðzÞ ¼ RðzÞdðzÞ and the peripheral region is
given by R1 ðzÞrrr RðzÞ.
The constitutive equation for a Casson fluid (blood) is given by
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
qffiffiffiffiffiffi qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffi  
@uc
9t9 ¼ 9t0 9 þ mc   if9t9Z9t0 9
@r
@uc
¼ 0 if9t9r9t0 9 ð3Þ
@r
The non-dimensional variables are
r z R
r¼ z¼ R¼
R0 z0 R0
R1 p uc
R1 ¼ p¼ 2
uc ¼
R0 rp U 0 U0
up ds t0
up ¼ ds ¼ y¼ 2
U0 R0 rp U 0

where u is the velocity component in the axial direction (z), p the pressure, rp is the
density,R0 is the radius of the normal artery, z0 the one-fourth length of the stenosis L0 ,U 0
the average velocity in the normal artery region, t0 the yield stress of Casson’s fluid and ds
is the maximum height of the stenosis. The quantities in the peripheral layer and in the
central core are denoted by subscripts p and c, respectively. ‘’over a letter denotes the
corresponding dimensional quantity.
Under the assumptions made in the present analysis, the momentum equations can be
approximated as [42,8] for region 0rrrR1(z),
"   #2
@uc 1 r @p 1=2 1=2
¼ mRep pffiffiffi  y ð4Þ
@r b 2 @z

@p
0¼ ð5Þ
@r
for region R1(z)rrrR(z),
 
@p b @2 up 1 @up
0¼ þ þ ð6Þ
@z Rep @r2 r @r
2312 R. Ponalagusamy, R. Tamil Selvi / Journal of the Franklin Institute 348 (2011) 2308–2321

@p
0¼ ð7Þ
@r
where m ¼ ðmp =mc Þ, b ¼ ðz0 =R0 Þ and Rep ¼ ðU 0 R0 rp =mp Þ.
The boundary conditions are
1
ðiÞ up ¼ us ðzÞ at r ¼ RðzÞ
ðiiÞ up ¼ uc at r ¼ R1 ðzÞ C
C
C
ðiiiÞ tp ¼ tc at r ¼ R1 ðzÞ C ð8Þ
C
@uc A
ðivÞ ¼0 at r ¼ Rp
@r
where us ðzÞð ¼ ðus =U 0 ÞÞ is the non-dimensional axially variable slip velocity, t is the shear
stress and Rp ( ¼ Rp/R0) is the plug core radius. It may be remarked that us(z) is a function
of z. The geometry of the stenosis (in non-dimensional form—Fig.(1)) is given by [25]
RðzÞ ¼ 1A½L0 n1 ðzdÞðzdÞn  for drzrd þ L0 ¼ 1 otherwise ð9Þ
wwhere n(Z2) is a parameter determining the shape of the stenosis, R(z) is the radius of the artery
in the stenotic region, L0 is the length of the stenosis, d indicates its location and A is given by
ds nn=ðn1Þ
A¼
R0 L0 n ðn1Þ
Here ds denotes the maximum height of the stenosis at
L0
z¼d þ 1=ðn1Þ
n
such that the ratio of the stenotic height to the radius of the normal artery is much less
than unity. It is of interest to note that an increase in the value of n leads to the change of
stenosis shape. When n ¼ 2, the geometry of stenosis becomes symmetric at z ¼ dþ(L0/2).

2.1. Solution
The solutions of Eqs. (4) and (6) can be obtained with the boundary conditions (8) as
pffiffiffi

qðzÞRep  2 2mRep yqðzÞ 1=2 3=2 3=2
uc ¼ R R21 ð1mÞmr2 þ mRep yðR1 rÞ2 ðR1 r Þ þ us ðzÞ
4b 3 b
ð10Þ

qðzÞRep  2 2
up ¼ R r þ us ðzÞ ð11Þ
4b
where q(z)¼ (qp/qz)
The velocity in the plug core region upl is
pffiffiffi

qðzÞRep h 2 i 2mRep yqðzÞ 1=2 3=2
upl ¼ R R21 ð1mÞmR2p þ mRep yðR1 Rp Þ2 ðR1 Rp 3=2 Þ þ us ðzÞ
4b 3 b
ð12Þ
where Rp ¼ 2by/q(z).
 R. Ponalagusamy, R. Tamil Selvi / Journal of the Franklin Institute 348 (2011) 2308–2321 2313

The flow rate through the peripheral layer Qp is defined as

Z RðzÞ
Qp ¼ 2 rupðz,rÞdr ð13Þ
R1 ðzÞ

which, on using Eq. (11), gives

qðzÞRep  4 
Qp ¼ R 2R2 R21 þ R41 þ us ðzÞ R2 R21 ð14Þ
8b
Similarly, the flow rate through core region Qc can be written as
qðzÞRep h 2 2
Qc ¼ 2R ðR1 R2p Þ2R21 ð1mÞðR21 R2p Þ
8b
i mRep y 3
mðR41 R4p Þ þ us ðzÞðR21 R2p Þ þ ðR1 3R1 R2p þ 2R3p Þ
pffiffiffi 3
2 2mRep
 pffiffiffi fyqðzÞg1=2 ð3R7=2 3=2 2
1 7R1 Rp þ 4Rp Þ
7=2
ð15Þ
21 b
In a similar way, the flow rate in the plug core region Qpl may be expressed as
qðzÞRep h 2 2 i
Qpl ¼ R Rp R21 R2p ð1mÞmR4p þ us ðzÞR2p
4b
pffiffiffi n o
2 2mRep 3=2
þmRep yðR1 Rp ÞR2p  pffiffiffi fyqðzÞg1=2 R1 R2p R7=2p ð16Þ
3 b
The total flow rate Q is
qðzÞRep  4
Q ¼ Qc þ Qp þ Qpl ¼ R R41 ð1mÞ
8b
mR y n o 2pffiffi2ffimR n o
ep ep 7=2
2
þR us ðzÞ þ R1 Rp  pffiffiffi fyqðzÞg1=2 R1 R7=2
3 3
p ð17Þ
3 7 b
From Eq. (17), we obtain
pffiffiffi 7=2 1=2
8bfQR2 us ðzÞg 64bm yR1 fQR2 us ðzÞg 128bm2 yR71
qðzÞ ¼ 4 4
þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 4 3=2
þ 2
ð18Þ
Rep fR R1 ð1mÞg 7 Rep fR R4 ð1mÞg 49fR4 R4 ð1mÞg
1 1

Integrating Eq. (18) and using the conditions p ¼ po at z ¼ 0 and p ¼ p1 at z ¼ L and

simplifying, we get
p0 _p1
l¼ ¼ 8bG ð19Þ
Q
where
Z L
G¼ fqðzÞ=Qg dz
0
L ¼ ðL0 =z0 Þ and l is the resistance to flow. The wall shear stress tw can be defined as (in
dimensionless form)
 
1 @up 
tw ¼ at r ¼ R ð20Þ
R  @r ep
2314 R. Ponalagusamy, R. Tamil Selvi / Journal of the Franklin Institute 348 (2011) 2308–2321

In which on using Eqs.(11) and (18) gives

pffiffiffi 7=2 1=2
4RfQR2 us ðzÞg 32mR yR1 fQR2 us ðzÞg 64Rm2 yR71
tw ¼ þ p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffi þ ð21Þ
Rep fR4 R41 ð1mÞg 7 Rep fR4 R4 ð1mÞg
3=2
49fR4 R4 ð1mÞg
2
1 1

3. Analytic expressions for slip velocity, core viscosity and peripheral layer thickness

Brunn [2] has indicated that the introduction of a thin solvent layer near the wall
produces the same effect as that of the slip at the wall. In the case of one layered model
(R ¼ R1) with slip at the wall, the flow rate Q1L (from Eq. (17)) can be obtained as

rn qðzÞRe 4 Re yrn n 3 o 2pffiffi2ffirn Re n o

Q1L ¼ 2
R þ R us ðzÞ þ 3
R Rp  pffiffiffi fyqðzÞg1=2 R7=2 Rp 7=2
8b 3 7 b
ð22Þ

where rn ¼ ðrp=rÞ, Re ¼ ðrU 0 R0 =mn Þ and r and mn are the density and viscosity of the fluid
when the flow is one-layered. For the two-layered model without slip at the wall (us ¼ 0),
the flow rate Q2L (from Eq. (17)) can be obtained as
"
 # (

3 )
qðzÞRep R4 dðzÞ 4 mRep yR3 dðzÞ 3 Rp
Q2L ¼ 1 1 ð1mÞ þ 1 
8b R 3 R R
pffiffiffi " 7=2
7=2 #
2 2mRep 1=2 dðzÞ Rp
 pffiffiffi fyqðzÞR7 g 1  ð23Þ
7 b R R

where dðzÞ ¼ dðzÞ=R0 is the non-dimensional peripheral layer thickness which is a function
of axial distance z. Since the two models (one-layered with slip and two-layered without
slip) represent the same phenomena, the flow rates can be equated as
Q1L ¼ Q2L ¼ Qn ,
rn qðzÞRe 4 Re yrn n 3 o 2pffiffi2ffirn Re n o
2
R þ R us ðzÞ þ R Rp 3
pffiffiffi fyqðzÞg1=2 R7=2 Rp 7=2
8b 3 7 b
"
4 # (

3 )
qðzÞRep R4
dðzÞ mRep yR3 dðzÞ 3 Rp
¼ 1 1 ð1mÞ þ 1 
8b R 3 R R
pffiffiffi " 7=2
7=2 #
2 2mRep 1=2 dðzÞ Rp
 pffiffiffi fyqðzÞR7 g 1  ð24Þ
7 b R R

From Eq. (24), one can obtain us (z) as

" "
 # #
qðzÞR2 dðzÞ 4
us ðzÞ ¼ Rep 1 1 ð1mÞ rn Re
8b R
" (

3 ) (
 )#
Ry dðzÞ 3 Rp Rp 3
þ mRep 1  rn Re 1
3 R R R
 R. Ponalagusamy, R. Tamil Selvi / Journal of the Franklin Institute 348 (2011) 2308–2321 2315

" (
 ) (
7=2 )
7=2 #
7=2
2 1=2 Rp dðzÞ Rp
þ f2yqðzÞR3 =bg rn Re 1 mRep 1 
7 R R R
ð25Þ
From Eq. (23), the expression for core viscosity mc can be obtained as
2 3
1=2
mp ½qðzÞR4 Rep f1ðdðzÞ=RÞÞ4 þ ðð8byR3 Rep Þ=3Þ½f1ðdðzÞ=RÞg3 ðRp =RÞ3 ð64b=7ÞfyQn R3 Rep g
4 5
½f1ðdðzÞ=RÞg7=2 ðRp =RÞ7=2 
mc ¼
½8bQn þ qðzÞRep R4 ½ð1ðd=RÞÞ4 1
ð26Þ
In Eqs. (25) and (26), the peripheral layer thickness is an unknown quantity which can
be determined in the following manner. For a two-layered model without slip at the wall
(us ¼ 0), the expression for velocity in the core region is obtained from Eq. (10) as
"
 #
qðzÞRep R2 dðzÞ 2  r 2
uc ¼ 1 1 ð1mÞm
4b R R

  "
1=2   #
dðzÞ r 2mRRep f2qðzÞyR3 g dðzÞ 3=2  r 3=2
þymRRep 1   1 
R R 3 b R R
ð27Þ
The centerline velocity U (at r ¼ Rp) from Eq. (27) can be obtained as
"

2 #
qðzÞRep R2 dðzÞ 2 Rp
U¼ 11 ð1mÞm
4b R R
 
  1=2 " 
3=2 #
dðzÞ Rp 2mRep 2qðzÞyR3 dðzÞ 3=2 Rp
þymRRep 1   1 
R R 3 b R R
ð28Þ
Eliminating m between Eqs. (23) and (28), one gets
"   #


16qðzÞ n 7 3 1=2
2R2ep 2q3 ðzÞyR11 1=2 d 11=2 qðzÞyR5 R2ep d 5
fyQ R Rep g  1 þ 1
7 3 b R 3 R
2 8 !1=2 93
<2R =

q2 ðzÞR4 R2ep n 2 o
ep 2qðzÞyRp
3
d 4
þ4 R R2p þ qðzÞR4 Rep UyRp Rep 5 1
4b : 3 b ; R
16 1=2 
d 7=2 2yR3 Rep 


d 3
þ fyQn R3 Rep g 4UbqðzÞR2 Rep 1 þ qðzÞR2 Rep 4Ub 1
7 R 3 R
 2
 3 
2
qðzÞR Rep 8ybRep Rp 64b 1=2 d
þ 8bQn qðzÞR4 Rep þ  2 fyQn Rep R7p g 1
4b 3 7R R
"   #

2R2ep 2q3 ðzÞyR11 1=2 16Rep Qn 3 1=2 d 3=2
þ  f2bqðzÞyR g 1
3 b 3 R
h i
d

q2 ðzÞR2p R2ep R4
þ 8bQn yRRep qðzÞyR5 R2ep 1 ¼ 2Qn qðzÞR2p Rep 
R 4b
3 
2yRep Rp
þ8bQn yRpRep qðzÞyRpR4 R2ep þ R2 qðzÞRep 4Ub
3
2316 R. Ponalagusamy, R. Tamil Selvi / Journal of the Franklin Institute 348 (2011) 2308–2321

( )1=2
2qðzÞyR3p h i 16 1=2  
þ 16Qn bRep 2R4 R2ep qðzÞ  fyQn Rep R7p g Rep qðzÞ4Ub ð29Þ
9b 7

Since all the quantities (except d(z)) on both sides of Eq. (29) are measurable
experimentally, the peripheral layer thickness d(z) can be computed. Once we know the
value of d(z), mc and us(z) can be calculated from Eqs. (26) and (25).

4. Results and discussion

It is pertinent to mention that we are only interested in computing the values of (d(z)/R),
which are real and less than or equal to unity.
Since the experimental values of pressure gradient, flow rate and centerline velocity for
flow through an arterial with mild stenosis at different cross-sections for various values of
stenotic height and shapes and red blood cells concentrations are not available, the
variation of slip velocity, peripheral layer thickness, the core viscosity with the axial
distance cannot be obtained. However, to show the procedure and to see the accuracy of
the method, we have used the experimental data of flow through a uniform tube. First, we
write Eqs. (25), (26) and (29) in the dimensional form as
" (  4 ) #
q0 ðR0 Þ2 1 d0 1
us ¼ 1 1 ð1mÞ  n
8 mp R0 m
" (
3
3 ) (
3 )#
t0 R 0 1 d0 Rp 1 Rp
þ 1   n 1
3 mc R0 R0 m R0
( n
)1=2 2
 (
7=2 ) !1=2 (
7=2
7=2 )
3
1=2
8 t0 Q rp 4 1 R p 1 d 0 R p 5
þ 1 m 1 
7 pR0 2 mn R0 mp R0 R0

ð30Þ
h 1=2
i
4 n 3
m p f1ðdðzÞ=R 0 Þg þð8t o =3R 0 q 0 Þfð1ðd 0 =R 0 ÞÞ3 ðR p =R 0 Þ3 gð64=7q 0 R 0 Þft 0 m p Q =pR 0 g fð1ðd 0 =R 0 ÞÞ7=2 ðR p =R 0 Þ7=2 g
mc ¼ 4 n
½f1ðd 0 =R 0 Þg þð8Q mp =pq0 ðR0 Þ4 Þ1

ð31Þ
2 8 91=2 8 91=2 3 8 9
< 2 n = < 3 5=

11=2 < 2 =

616 t 0 q 0 Q R 0 8t 0 q 0 R 0 7 d t0q0R0 d 5
4  5 1 þ 1
7 : pU 4 m 3 ; : 9U 4 m 4 ; R : 3U 2 m 2 ; R
0 p 0 p 0 p
20 1 8 91=2 ! 0 3

4
q 2
R <8t 0 q 3 R 2 R 3 = q R U q R R t
6 0
þ4@ 0 2 AðR 0 R p Þ þ
2 2 0 0 p
 0 0
 @ 0 0 p 0 5 1 d
4U 0 m 2p : 9U 4 m 4 ; 2
U 0mp
2
U 0 m 2p R0
0 p
2 ( )1=2 8 9 3

7=2
16 <t 0 q 20 Q R 0 =5
n 2 n
64 t 0 Q U d
þ4  1
7 pR 3 U 4 m 7 : pU 4 m 3 ; R0
0 0 p 0 p
28 9 ( )
3
<2 t q Q n R 2 = 3
4 0 0 0 8 t0 5 d
þ  1
:3 pU 24 m 2 ; 3m U2 R0
0 p p 0
 R. Ponalagusamy, R. Tamil Selvi / Journal of the Franklin Institute 348 (2011) 2308–2321 2317

2 8 91=2 3
n 3 3 < n 7=
2
6 2q 0 Q q 20 R 0 2t 0 q 0 R p 16q 0 t 0 Q R p 7 d
þ4 2
 2
þ 2
 2 6 5 1
pR 0 U 0 m p 4U 0 m 2p 3R 0 U 0 m 2p 7U 0 : pR 0 m 3p ; R0
2 8 91=2 8 91=2 3
<2t q 3 R 5 = <2t q Q n R =

62 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 7 d 3=2
4  5 1
3 : U 4m4 ; 3p : R 3 U 4 m 2 ; R
0 p 0 0 p
8 9
< 8t Q n 2
 ( n 2)
t0q0R0=
2
0 d 2q 0 Q R p R 0 q 20 R p 8t 0 Q n R p
þ  1 ¼  þ
:pR 2 U 2 m 2
U 0 m 2p ; R0 3 2
pR 0 U 0 m p
2
U 0mp
2
pR 0 U 0 m p
0 0 p
0 1
n n  1=2 7
R0q0Q Rp 16Q 2 3 8t 0 q 30 R p
 2
þ 3 2
t0q0Rp @ 2 4 A
U 0mp pR 0 U 0 m p 9 9R 0 U 0 m 4p
( ) 2 ( 3
3 n 7 )1=2
q 4U t R
0 p 8 t 0 Q R p
þ2 0  2 4 2
 6 4
5 ð32Þ
mp R 3R 0 U 0 m p 7 pR 0 U 0 m p
0

where q 0 is the pressure gradient and d 0 is the peripheral plasma layer thickness in the
normal artery region. For blood with 40% and 6% red blood cell concentration, we have
the following data from Bugliarello and Sevilla [3] and Bugliarello and Hayden [4].
For 40 mm diameter:
n
C ¼ 40% and, Q ¼ 19:2342  106 cm3 =s,
d 0 ¼ 3:2 mm, q 0 ¼ 167:5  103 dyne=cm3 and
m p ¼ 0:0144P (at 25.5 1C), U ¼ 2:37 cm=s and t 0 ¼ 0.04 dyne/cm2.

For 66.6 mm diameter:

n
C ¼ 6%, Q ¼ 45:6546  106 cm3 =s,
d 0 ¼ 12:876 mm and q 0 ¼ 14:2655  103 dyne=cm3 ,
m p ¼ 0:0143 (at 25.5 1C), U ¼ 2:38cm=sand t 0 ¼ 0.0064 dyne/cm2.
Using these value, the peripheral layer thickness is computed (Table 1) for blood flow in
40 and 66.6 mm tube diameter from Eq. (32). One can easily see from this table that the
peripheral layer thickness, obtained from the present analysis, has a good agreement with
the experimental observations [3,4] and the error is less than 1.40%.

Table 1
Comparison of peripheral layer thickness d 0 ðmmÞ.

Tube diameter d 0 ðmmÞ

(mm)
Present work Experimental results Difference (%)
Casson–Newtonian (C–N) C–N Casson–Newtonian

40 3.1658 3.2000 1.0688

66.6 12.6973 12.8760 1.3878
2318 R. Ponalagusamy, R. Tamil Selvi / Journal of the Franklin Institute 348 (2011) 2308–2321

Table 2
Core fluid viscosity mc poise.

Tube diameter mc poise

(mm)
Present work Experimental results Error %
Casson–Newtonian (C–N) C–N Casson–Newtonian

40 0.04403 0.04244 3.7465

66.6 0.02026 0.01896 6.8565

Table 3
Slip velocity us (cm/s).

Tube diameter (mm) Present work

Casson–Newtonian

40 1.2101
66.6 0.8108

With the help of the obtained values of the peripheral layer thickness, the core viscosities
in the cases of two-layered models for 40 and 66.6 mm tube diameters have been obtained
and shown in Table 2. It is observed that the core viscosities in two-layered models are less
when blood flows through a tube of diameter 66.6 mm as compared to that for a tube of
diameter 40 mm. Further, a comparison between theoretical and experimental values of
core viscosity is made and it is pertinent to note that the error between the two becomes
3.7465% in the case of two-layered model (Casson–Newtonian) for tube diameter 40 mm.
The error comes out to be 6.8565% in the case of two-layered model (Casson–Newtonian)
for tube diameter 66.6 mm.
A modest effort has been made to compute slip velocity by substituting the obtained
values of peripheral layer thickness and core viscosities in Eq. (30). Table 3 shows the
values of slip velocities for tube diameters 40 and 66.6 mm.

5. Conclusions

A two-layered model of blood flow through a stenosed artery with axially variable
peripheral layer thickness and variable slip velocity at the wall has been considered. The
model consists of a core (red cell suspension) surrounded by a peripheral plasma layer. The
rheology of blood (suspension of all the erythrocytes) in the core region is assumed to be
Casson fluid and the peripheral layer of plasma as a Newtonian fluid. When the yield stress
y is zero, the two-layered model of blood (Newtonian–Newtonian) flow through a stenosed
artery with axially variable peripheral layer thickness and variable slip velocity at the wall
becomes a particular case of the present investigation. For the first time, the analytic
expressions for peripheral layer thickness, core viscosity, slip velocity, wall shear stress and
resistance to flow have been obtained (Eqs. (29), (26), (25), (21) and (19)). It may be
mentioned that we could not analyze their (peripheral layer thickness, core viscosity, etc.,)
 R. Ponalagusamy, R. Tamil Selvi / Journal of the Franklin Institute 348 (2011) 2308–2321 2319

variation with the axial distance in the strenotic region because of the non-availability of
the required experimental data (pressure gradient and centerline velocity at difference
cross-section of the stenosed arteries for various values of stenotic heights and different
shapes, flow rates and concentrations). It is, therefore, of interest to conduct such
experiments to provide the required data which, in turn, will help in understanding the flow
of blood through a stenosed artery.
It is of interest to mention that measuring the thickness of peripheral plasma layer
experimentally is not so easy because its thickness is not constant even for the steady flow
through uniform tubes, due to the random motion of the suspended particle (red blood
cell); whereas the reliable values of pressure gradient, plasma viscosity and centerline
velocity can be measured for a given flow rate, tube size and concentration of blood.
Therefore, it is preferable to use these reliable measurements for the computation of the
value of peripheral layer thickness using newly developed Eq. (32).
The value of theoretically obtained peripheral layer thickness (Eq. (32)) and the
experimental data for pressure gradient, plasma viscosity and the flow rate are used to
calculate the core viscosity (Eq. (31)). It is important to note that in the case of two-layered
model (Casson–Newtonian), theoretical and experimental values of core viscosity show a
good agreement(error is 3.7465%) for tube diameter 40 mm. Further, slip velocities have
theoretically computed in the present investigation.
The present analysis could also serve as the check for the experimentally measured
rheological values of blood. It may be mentioned at this stage that the variation of
peripheral layer thickness, core viscosity and slip velocity with the axial distance in the
stenotic region has not been analyzed due to the non-availability of the experimental
values of pressure gradient and the centerline velocity at different cross-sections of the
stenosed arteries for various values of stenotic heights, flow rates and concentrations. It
would be of interest to conduct such experiments to provide this vital data which, in turn,
could be useful in the understanding of the rheology of blood. This rheological
information of blood in turn could be exploited for the development of new diagnostic
tools for many diseases such as myocardial infarction, hypertension, renal, retinal, etc.
[11,23,18].

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