Mathematical modeling of a complex system in
hemodynamics
D. S. Sankar Atulya Nagar
School of Mathematical Sciences, Intelligent and Distributed
Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Systems Laboratory,
Penang, Malaysia Department of Computer Science,
sankar_ds@yahoo.co.in Liverpool Hope University, Hope
Park Liverpool, L16 9JD, UK
nagara@hope.ac.uk
Abstract—The branch of complex system spans over a wide
range of areas from physical and technological systems to
social and biological systems. Hemodynamics is a branch of
physiology and is a complex system which deals with the
study of blood flow in arteries. Being a complex physical
system, blood flow in a narrow stenosed artery is modeled as
a two-phase fluid flow with the inner phase consisting of all
the erythrocytes being represented by Herschel-Bulkey fluid
model and the outer phase composed of only plasma being
treated as Newtonian fluid. Perturbation method is
employed to obtain an asymptotic solution to the resulting
system of nonlinear partial differential equations. The
expressions for the physiologically important flow quantities
such as shear stress, velocity, plug core radius, flow rate and
longitudinal impedance to flow are obtained. It is found that
the velocity increases with the increase of the body
acceleration, pressure gradient and the width of the
peripheral layer thickness and the reverse behavior is
noticed when the yield stress and depth of the stenosis
increase. It is also observed that the flow rate decreases with
the increase of the stenosis shape parameter, power law
index and yield stress. Also, it is noted that the presence of
body acceleration and peripheral layer influences the mean
velocity by increasing its magnitude significantly in the
arteries of different radii.
Keywords-Complex system modeling; Mathematical
analysis; Pulsatile blood flow; Asymmetric stenosis; Body
acceleration
I. INTRODUCTION
Complex Systems is an upcoming field of study that
covers every branch of science, engineering, medicine etc.,
and it discusses how relationships between parts give rise
to the collective behaviors of a system and how the system
interacts and forms relationships with its environment [1].
Many physical systems are inherently complex systems in
Ahmad Izani Mohamed
Ismail
School of Mathematical Sciences,
Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800
Penang, Malaysia
izani@cs.usm.my
In our day to day life, human body is subjected to
vibratory or acceleratory motion, e.g., driving a vehicle,
flying in an aircraft etc., [5]. Human body may be
subjected to vibration or body acceleration either for a
short duration or for a long time, sometimes intentionally
and sometimes unintentionally [6]. Prolonged body
acceleration may cause physical disorders like abdominal
pain, loss of vision, headache, venous pooling of blood in
the extremities and hemorrhage in the neck, faces, eye
sockets, lungs and brain. Hence, it is important to analyze
the blood flow in arteries under the influence of periodic
body acceleration [7, 8]. Sud and Sekhon [9] studied the
pulsatile flow of blood through a rigid circular artery under
body acceleration, treating blood as Newtonian fluid.
Belardinelli et al [9] analyzed mathematical models for
various forms of body accelerations in arterial blood flow.
Sankar [11] and Sankar [12] analyzed the influence of
periodic body acceleration on pulsatile flow of blood,
treating blood as single-fluid Herschel-Bulkley (H-B)
model and two-fluid H-B model for axially symmetric
stenosis.
Arteries are narrowed by the development of
atherosclerotic plaques that protrude into the lumen,
resulting in stenosed arteries [13, 14]. When a stenosis is
formed in an artery, one of the most serious consequences
is the increased resistance and the subsequent reduction in
the blood flow to the particular vascular bed supplied by
the artery. Hence, the presence of a stenosis can lead to the
serious circulatory disorder and thus, the mathematical
analysis of blood flow through a stenosed tube is also very
important.
Several theoretical and experimental efforts have been
made to analyze the effects of stenosis on blood flow
characteristics [11 - 13]. Blood shows Newtonian character
when it flows through larger diameter arteries at high shear
rates [13, 15]. But, blood, being a suspension of mainly
erythrocytes in plasma, exhibits non–Newtonian behavior
when it flows in narrow arteries (of diameter 20mm–200
terms of their definition and its engineering practice mm) at low shear rates  J  10 scc  and in diseased state,
includes elements of complex systems research [2].
the actual flow is distinctly pulsatile [11]. Several attempts
Traditionally, engineering has striven to solve the non-
made to study the non–Newtonian behavior of blood when
linear system problem while bearing in mind that for small
it flows in stenosed narrow arteries [8, 12].
perturbations, most non-linear systems can be
It is well accepted that blood can no longer be treated
approximated with linear systems significantly simplifying
as a single-phase viscous fluid model when the diameter of
the analysis [3]. Hemodynamics is a complex system
which deals with the study of blood flow in the circulatory the blood vessel is less than 1000 Pm [11, 16]. Thus, for a
system [4]. realistic description of blood flow in narrow arteries, it is
more appropriate to model blood as a two-fluid model,
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978-1-4244-6439-5/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE

1365
assuming the suspension of all the erythrocytes in the core
region as non-Newtonian fluid and the plasma in the
peripheral layer region as Newtonian fluid [17]. Several
researchers used two-fluid flow models for blood flow in
stenosed narrow arteries treating the fluid in the core
region as a non-Newtonian fluid and the fluid in the
peripheral layer as a Newtonian fluid [11, 12, 16]. In this
gradient; Z is the frequency parameter and I is the lead
radii of the peripheral layer region and core region of the
stenosed artery. The non-dimensional form of the
constitutive equation of the fluid in flow in the core region
and peripheral layer region reduce to
1 wu H
study, we analyze a two-fluid flow model for pulsatile WH n  T if W H t T and R p d r d R 1  z  
flow of blood through a narrow artery with mild 2 wr
asymmetric stenosis and under the influence of periodic
body acceleration.
II. MATHEMATICAL MODEL wu H
0 if WH d T and 0 d r d R p 
wr
Consider an axially symmetric, laminar, pulsatile and 1 wu N
fully developed unidirectional flow of blood (assumed to WN  if R1  z  d r d R  z  
be incompressible) in the presence of periodic body 2 wr
acceleration through a circular artery with an asymmetric
mild stenosis. The walls of the artery are considered as where R P is the plug core radius and T is the yield
rigid and the flowing blood is modeled as a two-fluid
model, assuming the suspension of all erythrocytes in the stress. The boundary conditions are
core region as Herschel-Bulkley (H-B) fluid and the
plasma in the peripheral layer region as Newtonian fluid. WH is finite at r 0 
The artery under study is assumed to be too long, so that
the entrance and end effects can be neglected. The wu H
0 at r 0 (7)
geometry of the stenosed artery is shown in Fig.1. wr

We have used the cylindrical polar WH W N at r R1  z  (8)

coordinates  r , \, z  to analyze the fluid flow. It can be
uH uN at r R1  z  (9)
shown that the radial velocity is negligibly small and can
be neglected for a low Reynolds number flow in a tube uN 0 at r R z (10)
with mild stenosis. The non-dimensional form of the
momentum equations governing the flow in the core
region and peripheral layer region reduce respectively to The geometry of the stenosis in the peripheral region
wu and core region (in dimensionless form) of the artery are
D H2 H 4 1  e cos t   4 B cos Z t  I 
wt  (1) respectively given by
2 w R  z  1  G1 ª Lm0 1  z  d    z  d  º in d d z d d  L0 (11)
m
  rW H  if 0 d r d R1  z  ¬ ¼
r wr
wu N R1  z  E  G 2 ª Lm0 1  z  d    z  d  º in d d z d d  L0 (12)
m
D N2 4 1  e cos t   4 B cos Z t  I  ¬ ¼
wt (2)
2 w
  rW N  if R1  z  d r d R  z  Where G1 G R 0 Lm0 m  m m 1 , G1 G 
R 0 Lm0 m
m m 1 ,
r wr P C

GP and GC are the maximum depth of the stenosis in the

where u H , u N are the axial component of the fluid’s
peripheral layer region and core region of the artery; L 0 is
velocity in the core region and peripheral layer region;
the length of the stenosis, d is the initial location of the
WH , W N are the shear stress of the fluid in the core region
stenosis; R 0 is the radius of the normal artery; E is the ratio
(H-B fluid) and peripheral layer region (Newtonian fluid);
t is the time; B is the body acceleration; e is the pressure of the central core radius to the normal artery radius. The
non-dimensional volume flow rate Q is given by
R z

Q 4 ³ u  r , z ,t  r dr
0
(13)

III. PERTURBATION METHOD OF SOLUTION

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of segment of the stenosed artery.
Since, Eqs. (1) – (5) form a system of nonlinear partial
differential equations, it is not possible to obtain the exact
solution to it. Perturbation method is applied to solve this
system with the boundary conditions (6) - (10). Since, the
present study deals with the pulsatile flow of blood and

1366
when we non-dimensionalize the constitutive Eqs. (1) and
(2), the square of the pulsatile Reynolds numbers D2H and wu 0P wu1P
0 and 0 at r 0 (25)
wr wr
D2N occur naturally and also, these are time dependent, it
is appropriate to expand the unknowns u H , u N , WH and W N W0H W0N and W1H W1N at r R1  z  (26)

in the perturbation series about D2H and D2N . Let us u 0H u 0 N and u 1H u 1N at r R1 z  (27)
expand the plug core velocity u p and the velocity in the
u 0N 0 and u 1N 0 at r R z (28)
core region u H in the perturbation series of powers of
Eqs.(16) – (23) form a system of partial differential
D 2H (where D2H  1 ) as below. equations which can be solved for the unknowns
u 0 H , u1H , W 0 H , W 1H and u 0 N , u1N , W 0 N , W 1N with the
u P  z, t  u 0P  z, t   D H
2
u1P  z, t   .......... (14) help of boundary conditions (24) – (28). On solving this
system with these boundary conditions, one can get the
expression for the unknowns as below.
u H  r,z, t  u 0H  r,z, t   DH2 u1H  r,z, t   .......... (15)
W0P g  t  R 0P (29)
Similarly, one can expand WP , WH and R P in powers of W 0H g tr (30)
D and u N and W N in powers of D 2N . Substituting the
2

W0 N g  t  r
H

perturbation series of u H and WH in Eq. (1) and then (31)

equating the constant terms and D 2H terms, one can get ª § r ·2 º

u0N g  t  R 2 «1  ¨ ¸ » (32)
w «¬ © R ¹ »¼
 rW0H  2 ª¬1  esin t   Bcos  Zt  I º¼ r (16)
wr
­° § R · 2 ½°
ª¬ g  t  R ¼º R ®1  ¨ 1 ¸ ¾  2 ¬ª g  t  R 1 ¼º
n
u 0H
wu0 H 2 w
  rW1H  (17) ¯° © R ¹ ¿°
wt r wr (33)
ª 1 ­° § r · n 1 ½° q 2 ­° § r · n ½° º
R1 « ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾ ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾»
Using the binomial series approximation in Eq. (3) and «  n  1 ¯° © R 1 ¹ ¿° R 1 ¯° © 1 ¹ °¿ »¼
R
¬
then applying the perturbation series of u H and WH in the
°­ § R1 · ½°
2

¬ª g  t  R ¼º R ®1  ¨ R ¸ ¾  2 ¬ª g  t  R1 ¼º
n
resulting equation and then equating the constant terms u 0P
¯° © ¹ °¿ (34)
and D H terms, we get
2
ª n 1 n º
1 ­° § q 2 · ½° q 2 ­° § q 2 · ½° »
wu R1 « ®1  ¨¨ ¸¸ ¾  ®1  ¨¨ ¸¸ ¾
 0H 2 W0H n 1
> W0H  n T@ (18) «  n  1 ° © R1 ¹ ° R1 ° © R1 ¹ ° »
wr ¬ ¯ ¿ ¯ ¿¼
wu § q 2 · ­° § R ·2 ½°
¬ 0H   n  1 T º¼
n 2 (19)
 1H 2 n W0H W1H ªW 1
W1P  ª¬g  t  R º¼ DR 2 ¨¨ ¸¸ ®1  ¨ 1 ¸ ¾
wr
Applying the perturbation series expansions of
4 © R ¹ ¯° © R ¹ ¿°
u N and W N in Eq. (2) and then equating the constant terms  ª¬ g  t  R1 º¼ D R12
n

and D N terms, one can obtain

2
ª n § q 2 ·  n  1 § q 2 ·
2
n
n2
§ q 2 · º (35)
w « ¨ ¸ ¨ ¸  ¨ ¸ »
 rW0 N  2 ¬ª1  e sin t   B cos  Zt  I ¼º r (20) «¬ 2  n  1 © R1 ¹ 2 © R1 ¹ 2  n  1 © R1 ¹ »
¼
wr
wu0 N 2 w
  rW1N  (21)
§ r · °­ § R · ½°
2
wt r wr 1
W1H  ª¬ g  t  R º¼ DR 2 ¨ ¸ ®1  ¨ 1 ¸ ¾
4 © R ¹ ¯° © R ¹ ¿°
On using the perturbation series expansions of
u N and W N in Eq. (5) and then equating the constant terms ª n
n 2
°­§ n  3 · § r · § r · °½
 ¬ªg  t  R1 ¼º D R12 «
n
®¨ ¸¨ ¸  ¨ ¸ ¾
and D N terms, we get
2 «  n  1 n  3 °¯© 2 ¹ © R1 ¹ © R1 ¹ °¿
¬
n 1 ½

wu0 N
2W 0 N  n  1 § q 2 · ­°§ n  2 · § r · § r · °
(22)  ¨ ¸® ¨ ¸¨ ¸ ¾
wr  n  2  ¨© R1 ¸¹ °¯¨© 2 ¸¹ © R1 ¹ © R1 ¹ °¿
wu1N
 2 W 1N (23)
wr

 
3 n 2  2n  2 § q 2 · n  3 § R · º
1 » (36)
Applying the perturbation series of u H , WH , u N and W N ¨ ¸
2  n  2  n  3 ¨© R1 ¸¹ ¨© r ¸¹ »
in Eqs.(6) – (10) and then equating the constant terms and ¼
D2H and D2N terms, the boundary conditions simplifies
respectively to
W0P and W1P are finite at r 0 (24)

1367
W1N  ª¬g  t  R º¼ D R R1


3 n 2  2n  2 
§ q2 ·
n 3
­° § r · n 1 ½°
¨ ¸ ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾
ª 1 § r · 1 § R · 2 § R · 1 § R · 2 § r ·3 º 2  n  1 n  2  n  3 ¨© R1 ¸¹ °¯ © R1 ¹ °¿
« ¨ ¸ ¨ 1 ¸ ¨ 1 ¸ ¨ 1 ¸ ¨ ¸ »
«¬ 4 © R1 ¹ 8 © R ¹ © r ¹ 8 © R ¹ © R1 ¹ »¼  
3  n  1 n 2  2n  2 § q 2 · n  4 ­° § r · n  2 ½° º
 ¨ ¸ ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾ » (39)
ª n § R 1 · n  n  1 2  n  2  n  2  n  3  ©¨ R1 ¹¸ ° © R1 ¹ ° »
 ¬ª g  t  R1 ¼º D R12 « ¯ ¿¼
n
¨ ¸
«¬ 2  n  3 © r ¹ 2  n  2 
u1P  2 ª¬g  t  R º¼ DR 2 R1
§ q 2 · § R1 · 3  n  2n  2  § q 2 · § R1 · º
2 n 3
ª 3 § R · 1 § R · 1 § R ·3 1 § R · 3 § R ·º
¨ ¸¨ ¸  ¨ ¸ ¨ ¸» (37) « ¨ ¸  ¨ 1 ¸  ¨ 1 ¸  ¨ 1 ¸ log ¨ 1 ¸ »
© R1 ¹ © r ¹ 2  n  2  n  3 © R1 ¹ © r ¹ »¼ «¬ 32 © R1 ¹ 8 © R ¹ 32 © R ¹ 8 © R ¹ © R ¹ »¼
u1N 2 ª¬g  t  R º¼ D R 2 R1 §R ·
2 ª¬ g  t  R 1 º¼ D R 13 log ¨ 1 ¸
n

ª 1 § R · ­° § r · 2 ½° 1 § R ·3 © R ¹
« ¨ ¸ ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾  ¨ 1 ¸ ª n  n  1 § q 2 · 3  n  2n  2  § q 2 · º
2 n 3
«¬ 8 © R1 ¹ °¯ © R ¹ °¿ 8 © R ¹ «
n
 ¨ ¸  ¨ ¸ »
«¬ 2  n  3  2  n  2  © R 1 ¹ 2  n  2  n  3  © R 1 ¹ »¼
§ R · 1 § R · °­ § r · °½º
4

log ¨ ¸  ¨ ¸ ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾»
°­ § R · °½
2
© r ¹ 32 © R1 ¹ ¯° © R ¹ ¿°¼»
 n ª¬ g  t  R 1 º¼ D R 1R 2 ®1  ¨ 1 ¸
n
¾
§R· °¯ © R ¹ °¿
2 ª¬ g  t  R 1 º¼ D R 13 log ¨ ¸
n

© r ¹ ª 1 ­° § q 2 · n 1 ½°  n  1 § k 2 · ­° § q 2 · n °½ º
(38) « ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾  ¨ ¸ ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾ »
ª n  n  1 § q 2 · 3  n  2n  2  § q 2 · º
n 3
« 2  n  1 ¯° © R 1 ¹ ¿°
2
n 2n © R 1 ¹ ° © R 1 ¹ ° »
«  ¨ ¸ ¨ ¸ » ¬ ¯ ¿¼
¬« 
2 n  3  2  n  2  © R 1 ¹ 2  n  2  n  3 © R 1 ¹ »
¼ 2n ª¬ g  t  R 1 º¼
2n 1
D R 13

u1H  2 ª¬g  t  R º¼ D R 2 R 1 ª n ­° § q 2 · n 1 ½°  n  1 § q 2 · ­° § q 2 · n ½°
« ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾  ¨ ¸ ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾
ª 3 § R · 1 § R 1 · 1 § R 1 ·3 1 § R 1 ·3 § R ·º « 2  n  1
2
R 2  n  1 © R 1 ¹ ° © R 1 ¹ °
¬ ¯° © 1 ¹ ¿° ¯ ¿
« ¨ ¸  ¨ ¸  ¨ ¸  ¨ ¸ log ¨ 1 ¸ »
¬« 32 © R1 ¹ 8 © R ¹ 32 © R ¹ 8 © R ¹ © R ¹ ¼»
n ­ § q 2 ·2n  2 ½
° °
 ®1  ¨¨ ¸¸ ¾
§R · 2  n  1  n  3 °¯ © 1 ¹
2 ª¬g  t  R 1 º¼ D R 13 log ¨ 1 ¸
n 2 R °¿
©R ¹
 n  1  2n 2  6n  3 § q 2 · ­° § q 2 ·2n 1 ½°
ª n n  n  1 § q 2 · 3  n  2n  2  § q 2 · º
2 n 3

«  ¨ ¸ ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾
 ¨ ¸ ¨ ¸ »  n  1 n  2  n  3 2n  1 ¨© R1 ¸¹ °¯ ¨© R1 ¸¹ °¿
«¬ 2  n  3 2  n  2  © R 1 ¹ 2  n  2  n  3 © R 1 ¹ »¼
n 1 ½
 n  1 § q 2 · ­° § q 2 ·
2
°  n  1 § q ·
2 2
°­ § R · °½
2

 n ¬ª g  t  R 1 ¼º D R 1R 2 ®1  ¨ 1 ¸ ¾
n
 ¨ ¸ ®1  ¨ ¾
¸ ¨¨ ¸
2  n  1 ¨© R 1 ¸¹ ° ¨© R 1 ¸¹
°¿ 2n © R 1 ¸¹
¯° © R ¹ ¿° ¯
ª 1 °­ § r · °½  n  1 § q · ­° § r · ½° º»
n 1
­ 2 n½ 2 2­ 2 2n ½
° § q · °  n  1 § q · ° § q · °
n 2
2
« ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾  ¨ ¸ ®  ¨ ¸ ¾ 
® ¨¨  
¸¸ ¾ ¨¨ ¸¸ ® ¨¨ ¸¸ ¾
1 1 1
« 2  n  1 ¯° © R 1 ¹ ¿° 2n © R 1 ¹ ° © R 1 ¹ ° »
¯ ¿¼ °¯ © R 1 ¹ °¿ 2n  n  2  © R 1 ¹ °¯ © R 1 ¹ °¿
¬

 
2n 1
2n ª¬ g  t  R 1 º¼ D R 13 3 n 2  2n  2 § q2 ·
n 3 ­ § q 2 ·n 1 ½
° °
 ¨ ¸ ®1  ¨¨ ¸¸ ¾ 
ª °­ § r · °½  n  1 § q · °­ § r · ½° 2  n  1 n  2  n  3 ¨© R1 ¸¹
n 1 n
2
n R
°¯ © 1 ¹ °¿
« ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾  ¨ ¸ ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾
¬ 2  n  1
« °¯ © R 1 ¹ °¿ 2  n  1 © R 1 ¹ °¯ © R 1 ¹ °¿
2

 
3  n  1 n 2  2n  2 § q 2 · n  4 ­° § q 2 · n  2 ½° º
­° § r · 2n  2 ½° ¨ ¸ ®1  ¨¨ ¸¸ ¾ » (40)
n 2  n  2  n  2  n  3  ¨© R 1 ¸¹ °¯ © R 1 ¹ °¿ ¼»
 ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾
2  n  1  n  3 °¯ © R1 ¹
2
°¿ Where
 n  1  2n  6n  3 § q · °­ § r ·
2 2 2n 1 ½
°
D ª¬1 g  t  º¼  dg  t  dt  , r W
0P T
R 0P T g  t  q2 and
¨ ¸ ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾
 n  1 n  2  n  3 2n  1 ¨© R1 ¸¹ °¯ © R1 ¹ gt 1  e cos t   B cos  Zt  I  . . The expression for
°¿
n 1 ½ velocity u H can easily be obtained from Eqs. (15), (33)
 n  1 § q 2 · ­° § r ·
2
°  n  1 § q ·
2 2
 ¨ ¸ ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾ ¨¨ ¸ and (39). Similarly, the expressions for u N , W H and W N
2  n  1 ¨© R1 ¸¹ ° © R1 ¹ °¿ 2n © R1 ¸¹
¯ can be obtained. From Eq. (13) and Eqs. (32) - (34), (36) –
­° § r · n ½°  n  12 § q 2 · 2 ­° § r · 2n ½° (40), the expression for volume flow rate is obtained as
®1  ¨ ¸ ¾ ¨ ¸ ®1  ¨ ¸ ¾ below.
2n  n  2  ¨© R1 ¸¹ ° © R1 ¹ °
¯° © 1 ¹ ¿°
R
¯ ¿ ª R0P
   
R1
Q 4 « ³ u 0P  DH 2 u1P r dr  ³ u 0H  DH 2 u1H r dr
«¬ 0 R 0P

1368
 ­° n n  n  1 § q 2 · 3  n  2n  2  § q 2 · ½°º
n 3
º 2

 
R
 ³ u 0N  D 2 u1N r dr » ®  ¨ ¸  ¨ ¸ ¾»
¯° 
R1 »¼ 4 n  3 4  n  2  © R1 ¹ 4  n  2  n  3 © R1 ¹ °»
¿¼
­° § R ·2 ½° (41)
4 ª¬g  t  R º¼ R 3 ®1  ¨ 1 ¸ ¾
¯° © R ¹ ¿° The shear stress WH W0H  DH2 W1H at r R P is given by
ª§ q 2 ·2 1 ­° § R · 2 ½°º W0H  DH
2
W1H T (42)
«¨ ¸  ®1  ¨ 1 ¸ ¾» r RP
«¬© R1 ¹ 4 ¯° © R ¹ ¿°»¼ Eq. (42) reflects the fact that on the boundary of the
plug core region, the shear stress is the same as the yield
4 ª g  t  R1 º¼ R
n 3

 ¬
1
stress. Using the Taylor’s series of W 0 H and W 1H
 n  2  n  3
about R 0P and using W0H r R 0P
T , we get
n 3
ª § q2 · § q2 · º
« n  2   n  n  3 ¨ ¸   n 2  2n  2  ¨ ¸ » ª º
«¬ © R1 ¹ © R1 ¹ »¼
R1P¬ª1 g  t  ¼º ¬ W1H r R 0P ¼ (43)
4D H ª¬  ª¬ g  t  R º¼ D R R 1
2 2
°­ 3 § R · 1 § R1 · 1 § R1 · 1 § R1 ·
3 3
® ¨ ¸  ¨ ¸  ¨ ¸  ¨ ¸ log ¨ ¸ ¾
3 Using Eqs. (31), (37) and (43) in the two term
approximated perturbation series expansion of R P , one
can get the expression for plug core radius as
§ R1 · °½
§ DD 2H R 2 · § q2 · ­° § R1 · 2 ½°
°¯ 32 © R1 ¹ 8 © R ¹ 32 © R ¹ 8 © R ¹ ¸¸ ¬   ¼
© R ¹ °¿ RP k2  ¨
¨
ªg t R º ¨¨ R ¸¸ ®1  ¨© R ¸¹ ¾
© 4 ¹ © ¹ ¯° ¿°
§R ·
 ª¬g  t  R1 º¼ D R15 log ¨ 1 ¸
n

©R¹
n D D 2H R12 ­ 2
n °§ q ·
ª¬g  t  R1 ¼º ®¨ ¸ 
 n 2  1 § q2 ·2  § q2 ·n 2 ½°
­° n n  n  1 § q 2 · 3  n  2n  2  § q 2 · ½° 
n 3
2
¨ ¸ ¨ ¸ ¾
2  n  1 R n © R1 ¹ © R 1 ¹ °
®  ¨ ¸  ¨ ¸ ¾ ¯°© 1 ¹ ¿
¯° 
2 n  3 2  n  2  © R1 ¹ 2  n  2  n  3 © R1 ¹ °
¿ (44)
The longitudinal impedance to flow in the artery is
°­ § R · °½
2

 n ª¬ g  t  R 1 º¼ D R 2 R 13 ®1  ¨ 1 ¸ ¾
n
given by
¯° © R ¹ ¿° / ª¬ g  t  º¼ Q (45)
°­  n  1 § q 2 ·  n  n  5  § q 2 · ½°
2 n 3
1 when R1 R , the present model reduces to the single-
®  ¨ ¸  ¨ ¸ ¾
°̄ 4  n  3  4  n  2  © R 1 ¹ 4  n  2  n  3  © R 1 ¹ °¿ fluid H-B model and in such case, the expressions obtained
in the this model for velocity u H , shear stress W H , wall
2n 1
 n ª¬g  t  R 1 º¼ D R 15 shear stress W w , flow rate Q and plug core radius R P are in
­° n n  n  1  4n  12n  5  2
§ q2 · good agreement with those of Sankar and Izani [11].
®  ¨ ¸
°̄ 2  n  2  n  3   n  2  n  3 2n  1 2n  3 © R 1 ¹
2 IV. NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF RESULTS AND
n  n  1
2
§ q2 · DISCUSSION
 ¨ ¸
2  n  1 n  2  ¨© R1 ¸¹ The aim of this study is to bring out the effects of the


n 3
 2n  11n  6
2
§ q2 · n 3 asymmetry of the stenosis, body acceleration, pulsatility of
the flow, power law index, yield stress, peripheral layer
¨ ¸
2  n  1 n  2  n  3 ¨© R1 ¸¹ thickness, and pressure gradient on the plug core radius,
 n  1  n 3  2n 2  11n  6  § q 2 ·n  4
plug flow velocity, velocity, wall shear stress, flow rate
 ¨¨ ¸¸
and longitudinal impedance to flow. The different
2n  n  2  n  3 © R1 ¹ parameters used in this analysis and their range of values


 4n 5

 14n 4  8n 3  45n 2  3n  18 § q 2 · 2n  4 ½° º
»
are given below [12, 18].
Yield stress T: 0 – 0.25; Power law index n: 0.95 –
¨ ¸ ¾»
2n  n  1 n  2  n  3 2n  3  ©¨ R1 ¹¸ °¿ ¼» 1.05; Pressure gradient e: 0.5 – 0.8; Body acceleration B: 0
– 2; Frequency parameter Z: 0 – 1; Pulsatile Reynolds
4D N 2 ª¬  ª¬g  t  R º¼ DR 4 R1 number ratio: 0.2 – 0.7; Pulsatile Reynolds numbers DH
and DN: 0.2 – 0.7; Interface location parameter E: 0.9 – 1.0;
°­ 1 § R · 3 § R1 · 5 § R1 ·
5

® ¨ ¸ ¨ ¸ ¨ ¸ Lead angle I: 0.2 – 0.5; Asymmetry parameter m: 2 – 6;

°̄ 24 © R1 ¹ 32 © R ¹ 96 © R ¹ Stenosis depth in the peripheral layer region: 0 – 0.25.
°­ § R · °½ ½°
3 2
1§ R · A. Plug flow velocity
 ¨ 1 ¸  log R 1  ®1  ¨ 1 ¸ ¾ ¾
8© R ¹ °¯ © R ¹ °¿ °¿ Fig. 2 depicts the variation of plug flow velocity with
axial distance for different values of m, E, GP and DH
­° § R ·2 ½°
 ¬ªg  t  R1 ¼º n DR 2 R13 ®1  ¨ 1 ¸ ¾ 1  2log R1 
°¯ © R ¹ °¿

1369
 Figure 2. Variation of plug flow velocity with axial distance for Figure 4. Velocity distribution for different values of m, B, e and GP
different values of m, E, GP and DH with n = 0.95, t = 60q, B = 1, with T = 0.075, n = E = 0.95, and T = 0.075.
T = 0.05, e = 0.5, I = 0.2 and Z = 1.

with n = 0.95, t = 60q, B = 1, T = 0.05, e = 0.5, I = 0.5 and

Z = 1. It is seen that for axially symmetric stenosis (m =
2), the plug flow velocity decreases as the axial distance
increases from z = 0 to z = 4 and then it increases
symmetrically from z = 4 to z = 8. The plug flow velocity
is more skewed to the right side when the shape of the
stenosis is asymmetric. It is also observed that the plug
flow velocity decreases considerably with the increase of
the stenosis shape parameter m and stenosis depth GP while
Figure 5. Variation of flow rate with interface location for different
all the other parameters were held constant. It is also
values of m, n and T with t = 60q, E = 1, e = 0.5, I = D = DH = 0.2, z =
noticed that the plug flow velocity increases considerably 4 and Z = 1.
with the increase of the Reynolds number DH and
peripheral layer thickness.
B. Velocity distribution
The velocity distribution for different fluid models with
t = 60q, E = 0.95, GP = 0.05, m = 2, I = D = DH = 0.2, B = 1,
z = 4, Z = 1 and e = 0.5 is shown in Fig. 3. It is observed
that the non-Newtonian fluid model without yield stress
(power law fluid model) has higher velocity than that of
the non-Newtonian fluid models (H-B fluid models) with
yield stress. It is noted that the velocity decreases
considerably with the increase of the yield stress T and it
decreases slightly with the increase of the power law index
n and the reverse behavior is observed when the width of Figure 6. Variation of longitudinal impedance to flow with stenosis
the peripheral layer thickness increases (E decreases). It is depth for different values of E, B and T with n = 0.95, t = 45°, I = D =
noticed that the velocity of the two-fluid H-B model is DH = 0.2, e = 0.5, z = 4 and Z = 1.
marginally higher than that of the single-fluid H-B model.
It is of interest to note that the plot of the single-fluid H-B
model is in good agreement with Fig. 6 of Sankar and Lee Fig. 4 sketches the velocity distribution for different values
[18]. of m, B, e, and GP with n = E = 0.95, I = DH = 0.2 and T =
0.075. It is found that the velocity decreases significantly
with the increase of the stenosis shape parameter m and
stenosis depth GP when all the other parameters were kept
as invariables. It is also observed that for a given set of
values of m and GP and the increasing values of the body
acceleration B and pressure gradient e, the velocity
increases considerably.
C. Flow rate
Fig. 5 depicts the variation of flow rate with interface
location parameter E for different values of m, n and T with
t = 60q, B = 1, e = 0.5, I = D = DH = 0.2, GP = 0.1, z = 4 and
Figure 3. Velocity distribution for different fluid models with t = 60q, Z = 1. One can note that the flow rate decreases almost
GP = 0.1, B = 1, e = 0.5, I = D = DH = 0.2, Z = 1, z = 4 and E = 0.95. linearly with the increase of the interface location

1370
 TABLE I. PHYSIOLOGICAL DATA FOR DIFFERENT ARTERIES.

Radius
A0 A1
 x 10 m   x 10 Kg m   x 10 Kg m 
S. 2 1 2 1
Artery 2 s s
No

1 Aorta 1.0 7.3 1.46

2 Femoral 0.5 32.0 6.4
3 Carotid 0.4 50.0 10.0
4 Coronary 0.15 698.65 139.74
5 Arteriole 0.008 2000.0 400

TABLE II. ESTIMATES OF MEAN VELOCITY FOR TWO-FLUID AND SINGLE-FLUID BLOOD FLOW MODELS FOR ARTERIES WITH DIFFERENT
RADII.

Mean velocity with body acceleration Mean velocity without body acceleration

S. Two- fluid Single- fluid

Artery Two- fluid Single- fluid
model model
No
 x 10 2
ms 1
  x 10 2
ms 1
 
model x 102 m s 1
 
model x 102 m s 1

1 Aorta 72.56
2 Femoral 80.23
3 Carotid 80.23
4 Coronary 155.68
5 Arteriole 1.3212
parameter. It means that the flow rate increases with the
increase of the peripheral layer thickness. The flow rate
decreases with the increase of stenosis shape parameter m,
power law index n and yield stress T. But, the decrease in
the flow rate is significant when the shape parameter m
increases and is marginal when the power law index n
increases and is considerable when the yield stress T
increases.
D. Longitudinal impedance
The variation of longitudinal impedance to flow with
stenosis depth GP for different values of E, B and T with I =
D = DH = 0.2, e = 0.5, m = 2, z = 4 and t = 45q is shown in
Fig. 6. It is seen that the longitudinal impedance to flow
increases slowly (linearly) with the increase of the stenosis
depth from 0 to 0.15 and then it increases rapidly
(nonlinearly) with the increase of the stenosis depth from
0.15 to 0.25. It is found that the longitudinal impedance to
flow decreases marginally with the increase of the body
acceleration B. One can also note that the longitudinal
impedance to flow increases considerably with the increase
of the yield stress T and the interface location parameter E
while the body acceleration parameter B is kept as
constant. It is observed that the impedance to flow for the
two-fluid H-B model is considerably lower than that of the
single-fluid H-B model.
E. Physiological applications of the model
To emphasize the physiological significance of the
present model, the data (for different types of arteries, their
corresponding radii, steady and pulsatile pressure gradient
1371
70.25 64.46 62.18
76.45 70.61 68.72
76.45 70.61 68.72
150.42 133.74 129.4
1.2732 1.1243 1.101
values) reported by Sud and Sekhon [33] are given in
Table 1 and are used in our study. For arteries with
different radii, the estimates of the mean velocity for two-
fluid and single-fluid blood flow models in the presence of
body acceleration and also in the absence of body
acceleration are computed and given in Table 2. It is
noticed that the estimates of the mean velocity decreases
significantly with the increase of the radius of the artery
except for the arteriole. One can also observe that body
acceleration influences the mean velocity by increasing its
magnitude considerably. It is also found that the estimates
of the mean velocity of the two-fluid blood flow model are
marginally higher than that of the single-fluid blood flow
model.
V. CONCLUSION
This study analyzed the two-fluid H-B model for blood
flow through stenosed arteries under periodic body
acceleration and points out many interesting fluid
mechanical phenomena due to the presence of the
peripheral layer. It is observed that the velocity increases
with the increase of the body acceleration, pressure
gradient and the width of the peripheral layer thickness and
the behavior reversed when the yield stress and stenosis
depth increase. It is also found that the flow rate decreases
with the increase of the stenosis shape parameter, power
law index and yield stress. It is recorded that the presence
of body acceleration and peripheral layer influences the
mean velocity by increasing its magnitude significantly in
all types of arteries. Hence, it is concluded that the effect
of the peripheral layer and body acceleration is to increase
the velocity of the blood flow in stenosed arteries.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research work was supported by the research
university grant of Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
(RU Grant Ref. No: 1001/PMATHS/816088).
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