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How to apply Windkessel model in CFX

Method · November 2019

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Yonghui Qiao
Zhejiang University
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 How to apply the Windkessel model in CFX (V1.0)
Three-element Windkessel (3EWK) model has been widely adopted as the
outlet boundary condition to reproduce physiological pressure waveform in
aortic blood flow simulation. We have implemented 3EWK model in CFX
(ANSYS Inc, Canonsburg, USA). The purpose of this tutorial is to share our
experience.
The theory of 3EWK model is shown in Fig.1 and Eq.1. The backward
Euler method is applied to calculate the derivative terms. Then we get
Equation 2 and there are three parameters (R 1 , R 2 , C), which could be
determined by the workflow proposed in our previous study [1] . The
difficulty of applying 3EWK model lies in the definition of flowrate and
pressure of the previous timestep (Q n-1 and P n-1 ).
dP dQ
P=Q( R1 + R2 ) − R2C + R1R2C (1)
dt dt

( R1 + R2 +R1 )Qn +  Pn−1 − R1 Qn−1 (2)

Pn =
1+

 =R2C /t (3)

Fig. 1. Schematic of the 3EWK model.

There are two main steps to apply the Windkessel model in CFX:
1. As you know, Q n-1 and P n-1 are not directly available in CFX. We
define two Additional Variables to temporarily save the outlet
pressure and flowrate of the previous timestep, respectively. Then the
necessary values would be passed to the next timestep.
2. Expression is used to calculate the flowrate for the current timestep.
Finally, Equation 2 could be also achieved by Expression.
PLEASE CITE THESE RELATED PAPERS
1. Qiao Y, Fan J, Ding Y, et al. A primary computational fluid dynamics study of
pre-and post-TEVAR with intentional left subclavian artery coverage in a type
B aortic dissection[J]. Journal of biomechanical engineering, 2019, 141(11).
2. Qiao Y, Mao L, Ding Y, et al. Effects of in situ fenestration stent-graft of left
subclavian artery on the hemodynamics after thoracic endovascular aortic
repair[J]. Vascular, 2019, 27(4): 369-377.
3. Qiao Y, Mao L, Ding Y, et al. Hemodynamic consequences of TEVAR with in
situ double fenestrations of left carotid artery and left subclavian artery[J].
Medical Engineering & Physics, 2020, 76: 32-39.
4. Qiao Y, Mao L, Zhu T, et al. Biomechanical implications of the fenestration
structure after thoracic endovascular aortic repair[J]. Journal of biomechanics,
2020, 99: 109478.
If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us.
Email: yhqiao@zju.edu.cn Dr. Yonghui Qiao from Zhejiang University

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