BIOFLUID MECHANICS AND BIOTRASPORTATION

CHAPTER ONE

By kidist Kebede
Aug, 2019/20

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 History of BFM
• People have written about the circulation of blood for
thousands of years.
• Huang Ti, lived in China from about 2700 to 2600 BC and,
according to legend, wrote one of the first works dealing
with circulation.
• Hippocrates , who lived in Greece around 400 BC, is
considered by many to be the father of science-based
medicine and was the first to separate medicine from
magic. Hippocrates declared that the human body was
integral to nature and was something that should be
understood.
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• Aristotle, a highly influential early scientist and
philosopher, lived in Greece between 384 and 322 BC.
He wrote that the heart was the focus of blood vessels,
but did not make a distinction between arteries and
veins.
• Praxagoras of Cos was a Greek physician and a
contemporary of Aristotle. Praxagoras was apparently
the first Greek physician to recognize the difference
between arteries (carriers of air, as he thought) and
veins (carriers of blood), and to comment on the pulse.

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• In 1628, Harvey published, “An anatomical study of the
motion of the heart and of the blood of animals.” This was
the first publication in the Western World that claimed
that blood is pumped from the heart and recirculated.
• Up to that point, the common theory of the day was that
food was converted to blood in the liver and then
consumed as fuel. To prove that blood was recirculated
and not consumed, Harvey showed, by calculation, that
blood pumped from the heart in only a few minutes
exceeded the total volume of blood contained in the body.

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• Jean Louis Marie Poiseuille was a French physician and
physiologist, born in 1797. Poiseuille studied physics and
mathematics in Paris. Later, he became interested in the flow
of human blood in narrow tubes. In 1838, he experimentally
derived and later published Poiseuille’s law.
• Otto Frank was born in Germany in 1865, and he died in
1944,In 1890, Frank published, “Fundamental form of the
arterial pulse
• Frank perfected optical manometers and capsules for the
precise measurement of intracardiac pressures and volumes.

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 What is Biofluid Mechanics
• Bio fluid mechanics is the study of certain
class biological of problems from fluid
mechanic point of view .
• The most common fluid mechanics problems
in the biological system is the flow of blood.

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 Distinction Between Solid and Fluid

 solid
• More Compact Structure
• Attractive Forces between the molecules
are larger therefore more closely packed
• Solids can resist tangential stresses in static
condition
• Solid may regain partly or fully its original
shape when the tangential stress is removed
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 …continued
 liquid
• Less Compact Structure
• Attractive Forces between the molecules are smaller therefore
more loosely packed
• Fluids cannot resist tangential stresses in static condition.
• Whenever a fluid is subjected to shear stress
a. No fixed deformation
b. Continuous deformation takes place until the shear stress is
applied
• A fluid can never regain its original shape, once it has been
distorded by the shear stress

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 Fluid Characteristics and Viscosity
• A fluid is defined as a substance that deforms
continuously under application of a shearing
stress, regardless of how small the stress is.
• Blood is a primary example of a biological
fluid.
• important fluid properties include density,
specific weight, specific gravity, and viscosity.

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• Density is defined as the mass per unit volume of a substance
and is denoted by the Greek character r (rho). The SI units for
r are kg/m3, and the approximate density of blood is 1060
kg/m3. Blood is slightly denser than water, and red blood cells
in plasma2 will settle to the bottom of a test tube, over time,
due to gravity.
• Specific weight is defined as the weight per unit volume of a
substance. The SI units for specific weight are N/m3.
• Specific gravity s is the ratio of the weight of a liquid at a
standard reference temperature to the weight of water. For
example, the specific weight of mercury SHg 13.6 at 20C.
Specific gravity is a unit less parameter.
• Density and specific weight are measures of the “heaviness”
of a fluid, but two fluids with identical densities and specific
weights can flow quite differently when subjected to the same
forces.
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 Viscosity

• Viscosity is the measure of substance's resistance to motion under

an applied force.
• A common way to visualize material properties in fluids is by making
a plot of shearing stress as a function of the rate of shearing strain.
• shearing stress is represented by the Greek character Г, and the rate
of shearing strain is represented by ѓ .
• The material property that is represented by the slope of the stress–
shearing rate curve is known as viscosity and is represented by the
Greek letter µ (mu).
• Viscosity is also sometimes referred to by the name absolute
viscosity or dynamic viscosity.

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• Viscosity=shear stress/shear rate
• Shear stress is the force per unit area
required to move one layer of fluid of fluid in
relation to an other.
Г=F/A
Where Г=shear stress
F=Force
A=area
• Shear rate is the measure of the change in
speed at which intermediate layers moves with
respect to an other.
Shear rate
Ѓ=u/h
Where ѓ= is the shear rate Stress versus rate of shearing strain for
u= is the velocity of the moving place various fluids.
h=is the distance between the two
parallel plates

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 Causes of Viscosity

The causes of viscosity in a fluid are possibly

attributed to two factors:
(i) intermolecular force of cohesion
(ii) molecular momentum exchange
Due to strong cohesive forces between the
molecules, any layer in a moving fluid tries
to drag the adjacent layer to move with an
equal speed and thus produces the effect of
viscosity . Since cohesion decreases with
temperature, the liquid viscosity does
likewise

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 Cont …
• Momentum from the migrant molecules from layer aa
is stored by molecules of layer bb by way of collision
• Thus layer bb as a whole is speeded up
• Molecules from the lower layer bb arrive at aa and
tend to retard the layer aa
• Every such migration of molecules causes forces of
acceleration or deceleration to drag the layer so as to
oppose the differences in velocity between the layers
and produce the effect of viscosity.

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Strain Rate
Strain rate describes deformation
change over time
How fast can a material deform ?
How fast can fluid flow ?

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 Cont………..
• Fluids with constant viscosity are known as
Newtonian fluids. For Newtonian fluids shear
stress and rate of shearing strain may be
related by the following equation:
Г=µy’

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 non-Newtonian fluids
• Shear stress and shear rate are not linearly related
for non-Newtonian fluids. Therefore, the slope of
the shear stress/shear rate curve is not constant.
• µ and y’ are not linearly related.
• For those fluids, viscosity can change ,viscosity
can not be constant .
• Blood is an important example of a non-
Newtonian fluid but fluids like oil, water, and air,
viscosity does not vary with shearing rate.
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 Cont …
• Shear thinning fluids are non-Newtonian fluids
whose apparent viscosity decreases as shear rate
increases. Latex paint is a good example of a shear
thinning fluid.
• Shear thickening fluids are non-Newtonian fluids
whose apparent viscosity increases when the shear
rate increases. Quicksand is a good example of a
shear thickening fluid. If one tries to move slowly in
quicksand, then the viscosity is low and the
movement is relatively easy.
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 Cont …
• If one tries to move quickly, then the viscosity
increases and the movement is difficult.
• A mixture of cornstarch and water also forms a
shear thickening non-Newtonian fluid.
• A Bingham plastic is neither a fluid nor a solid. A
Bingham plastic can withstand a finite shear
load and flow like a fluid when that shear stress
is exceeded. Toothpaste and mayonnaise are
examples Bingham plastics.
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 Shear stress versus rate of shearing strain for some non-
Newtonian fluids.

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 Factors Affecting Viscosity
• Viscosity is how thick or thin a fluid is or how
easily a fluid can flow.
What is flow rate?
• Flow rate is the amount of liquid that flows pass a
point in a given amount of time.
How are flow rate and viscosity related?
• The higher the viscosity the lower the flow rate
or The lower the viscosity the higher the flow
rate.
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 What factors can affect viscosity?

• temperature
• concentration
• attractive force
• particle size

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 Be hold
• In liquids, when the temperature increases
(energy added) the particles move faster and
begin to move away from each other. Because
the particles are moving around more they can
flow more; their viscosity is lower.
• In gases, the particles are far apart so when
energy is added the particles move faster and
collide with each other more often causing an
increase in viscosity
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 Concentration

• Concentration is the amount of substance that

is dissolved in a specific volume.
• An increase in concentration will usually
result in an increase in viscosity.

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 Attractive Force

• Particles of the same substance have an

attractive force on one another.
• Some substances have a strong attraction
while some substances have a weaker
attraction.
• The stronger the attraction of particles, the
higher the viscosity.

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 Clinical feature: polycythemia
• Polycythemia refers to a condition in which
there is an increase in hemoglobin above 17.5
g/dL in adult males or above 15.5 g/dL in
females
• There is usually an increase in the number of
red blood cells above 6*10^12 L–1 in males
and 5.5 * 10^12 L–1 in females

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 Cont …
• Symptoms of polycythemia are typically related to an
increase in blood viscosity and clotting.
• The symptoms include headache, dizziness, itchiness,
shortness of breath, enlarged spleen, and redness in the
face.
• Polycythemia Vera is an acquired disorder of the bone
marrow that results in an increase in the number of blood
cells resulting from excessive production of all three blood
cell types: erythrocytes, or red blood cells; leukocytes, or
white blood cells; and thrombocytes, or platelets.

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 Cont …
• Phlebotomy is one method used to reduce the
high blood viscosity.
• In phlebotomy, one unit (pint) of blood is
removed, weekly, until the hematocrit is less than
45; then, phlebotomy is continued a necessary.
• Occasionally, chemotherapy may be given to
suppress the bone marrow. Other agents such as
interferon may be given to lower the blood count.

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 Fundamental Method for Measuring
Viscosity
• A fundamental method for measuring viscosity
involves a viscometer made from concentric
cylinders.
• The fluid for which the viscosity is to be measured
is placed between the two cylinders.
• The torque generated on the inner fixed cylinder
by the outer rotating cylinder is determined by
using a torque-measuring shaft.

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 Cont …
• The force required to cause the cylinder to spin
and the velocity at which it spins are also
measured.
• Then the viscosity may be calculated in the
following.
• The shear stress t in the fluid is equal to the
force F applied to the outer cylinder divided by
the surface area A of the internal cylinder, that
is,
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 Cont …
• The shear rate for the • From the shear stress
fluid may also be and the shear rate, the
calculated from the viscosity and/or the
velocity of the cylinder, kinematic viscosity may
V, and the gap width h be obtained as
as

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 Cont …
• where
• µ = viscosity
• V= kinematic viscosity
• Ρ= density
• Atypical value for blood viscosity in humans is
0.0035 Ns/m2, or 0.035 poise (P), or 3.5 cP.
• Note that 1 P= 1 dyne s/cm2, or 0.1 Ns/m2.
Another useful pressure unit conversion is that 1
mmHg = 133.3 N/m2.
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 Cont …
• Let T represent the measured torque in the
viscometer shaft, and ω is its angular velocity
in rad/s.
• Assume that D is the radius of the inner
viscometer cylinder, and L is its length.
• The fluid velocity at the inner surface is

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 Example
• Whole blood (assume µ 0.0035 Ns/m2) is
placed in a concentric cylinder viscometer. The
gap width is 1 mm and the inner cylinder
radius is 30 mm.Estimate the wall shear stress
in the fluid. Assume the angular velocity of the
outer cylinder to be 60 rpm.

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 Solution

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 Pipe flow
• Pipe flow, a branch of hydraulics and fluid
mechanics, is a type of liquid flow within a closed
conduit (conduit in the sense of a means of
containment)
• The behavior of pipe flow is governed mainly by the
effects of viscosity and gravity relative to the inertial
forces of the flow. Depending on the effect of
viscosity relative to inertia, as represented by the
Reynolds number, the flow can be either laminar or
turbulent .
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 Cont …
• The fluid velocity is shown across the pipe
cross section and at various points along the
length of the pipe.

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 Cont …
• In the entrance region, the flow begins with a
relatively flat velocity profile and then develops an
increasingly parabolic flow profile as the distance
x along the pipe increases.
• Once the flow profile becomes constant and no
longer changes with increasing x, the velocity
profile does not change.
• The region in which the velocity profile is constant
is known as the region of fully developed flow.

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• The pressure gradient is the derivative of pressure with respect to
distance along the pipe.
• Mathematically, the pressure gradient is written as dP/dx, where P
is the pressure inside the pipe at some point and x is the distance in
the direction of flow.
• In the region of fully developed flow, the pressure gradient dP/dx
is constant. On the other hand, the pressure gradient in the
entrance region varies with the position x.
• The slope of the plot is the pressure gradient

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LAMINAR AND TURBULENT FLOWS
• The flow regime in the first case is said to be
laminar, characterized by smooth streamlines and
highly ordered motion, and turbulent in the second
case, where it is characterized by velocity
fluctuations and highly disordered motion.
• The transition from laminar to turbulent flow does
not occur suddenly; rather, it occurs over some
region in which the flow fluctuates between laminar
and turbulent flows before it becomes fully
turbulent.
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 Laminar and turbulent flow regimes
of candle smoke

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 Cont …
• Laminar flow or streamline flow occurs
when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no
disruption between the layers. laminar flow
tends to occur at lower velocities.
• Turbulent flow is a type of fluid flow in which
the fluid undergoes irregular fluctuation or
mixing in contrast of laminar flow.
• Turbulent flow occur at high velocity.

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 Reynolds Number
• Osborne Reynolds was a British engineer, born in 1842 in Belfast. In
1895, he published the paper: “On the dynamical theory of
incompressible viscous fluids and the determination of the criterion.”
• The Reynolds number is a dimensionless parameter named after
Professor Reynolds.
• The transition from laminar to turbulent flow depends on the
geometry, surface roughness, flow velocity, surface temperature, and
type of fluid, among other things.
• Osborne Reynolds discovered that the flow regime depends mainly
on the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces in the fluid. This ratio is
called the Reynolds number and is expressed for internal flow in a
circular pipe as

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• Re=Inertial forces/Viscous forces

Where
ρ fluid density in kg/m3
V fluid velocity in m/s
D pipe diameter in m
µ fluid viscosity in Ns/m2

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 Cont…
• The Reynolds number helps us to predict the transition
between laminar and turbulent flows
• Laminar flow occurs in flow environments where Re <
2300.
• Turbulent flow is present in circumstances under which Re
> 4000. The range of 2300 < Re < 4000 is known as the
transition range.
• The Reynolds number is also useful for predicting entrance
length in pipe flow. [Note that the entrance length is the
length of the entrance region before entering the fully
developed region.]
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 Cont…
• The ratio of entrance length to pipe diameter for laminar
pipe flow is given as

• In the human cardiovascular system, it is not common to

see fully developed flow in arteries.
• Typically, the vessels continually branch, with the
distance between branches not often being greater than
18 pipe diameters.
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 Cont…

• Although most blood flow in humans is laminar, having a

Re of 300 or less, it is possible for turbulence to occur at
very high flow rates in the descending aorta, for example,
in highly conditioned athletes.
• Turbulence is also common in pathological conditions
such as heart murmurs and stenotic heart valves. Stenotic
comes from the Greek word “stenos,” meaning narrow.
• Stenotic means narrowed, and a stenotic heart valve is
one in which the narrowing of the valve is a result of the
plaque formation on the valve.

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 Example problem:Reynolds number
• Estimate the Reynolds number for blood flow in a retinal
arteriole, Assume that the blood density is 1060 kg/m3. Is
there any concern that blood flow in the human retina will
become turbulent? The inside diameter of the arteriole is
0.007 cm,the mean velocity in the vessel is 4cm/s, and the
viscosity measured as 0.0035 Ns/m2.
Given
• δ= 1060 kg/m3
• µ= 0.0035 Ns/m2
• V=4cm/s
• D=0.007cm

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 Solution
• Re=ρVD/µ
Re=1060
kg/m3*4/100m/s*0.007/100m/0.0035Ns/s
Re=0.848

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03/25/2021 50
 Poiseuille’s law
• This law describes steady, laminar,
incompressible, and viscous flow of a
Newtonian fluid in a rigid, cylindrical tube of
constant cross section.
• The law was published by Poiseuille in 1840.

Q = ΔPπR4 / 8ηl

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 Velocity as a function of radius
• velocity as a function of • The maximum velocity
the radius r, can be will occur on the
written as:- centerline.
• At the center r=0 the
maximum velocity can
be obtained and may be
written as

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 Flow rate
• The differential flow dQ:
• To obtain the total flow passing through the
cross section, integrate the differential flow in
the limits from r = 0 to r = Rtube

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EQUATION OF CONTINUITY (conservation of
mass)
• For any control volume, conservation of mass guarantees that the
mass entering the control volume in a specific time is equal to the
mass leaving that same control volume over the same time interval
mass flowing in = mass flowing out
m1 = m2
ρ V1 = ρ V2
ρ A1 L1 Δt = ρ A2 L2 Δt
A1 v1 = A2 v2 =Q=V/t =constant
• where Q is the volume flow rate going into and out of the control
volume
• Q=volume flow rate m3s-1

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Where
• ρ1= the fluid density at point 1
• A1 = the area across which the fluid enters the control volume
• V1= the average velocity of the fluid across A1
• The variables ρ2, A2, and V2 are density, area, and average velocity at
point 2.

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• Consider the flow at a bifurcation, or a
branching point, in an artery. If we apply the
continuity equation, the resulting expression
is:

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 example
• Blood flowing through our body
The radius of the aorta is ~ 10 mm and the blood
flowing through it has a speed ~ 300 mm.s-1. The
average speed of blood through the capillaries is ~
5×10-4 m.s-1. Calculate the effective cross sectional
area of the capillaries

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 SOLUTION
• aorta RA = 10×10-3 m =10mm … and AA=cross sectional
area of aorta
• aorta vA = 0.300 m.s-1
• capillaries vC = 5×10-4 m.s-1
Assume steady flow of an ideal fluid and apply the equation
of continuity
• Q = A v = constant ⇒ AA vA = AC vC
 Area of capilliaries AC
• AC = AA (vA / vC) = π RA2 (vA / vC)
• AC = 0.20 m2
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 Bernoulli Equation
• Bernoulli’s principle :as the velocity of a fluid
increases, the pressure exerted by that fluid
decreases.
• For some flows, it is possible to neglect the
viscosity and focus on the pressure changes
along a streamline,
• Bernoulli equation can be used to investigate
the relationship between pressures and
velocities.
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Conservation of Energy
Consider an element of fluid
with uniform density. The
change in energy of that
element as it moves along a pipe
must be zero - conservation of
energy. This is the basis for
Bernoulli’s equation

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 Derivation of Bernoulli's equation, Between
any two points along a flow tube or
streamline

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 Fluid Statics
• fluids exert both normal and shearing forces.
• This section reviews a class of problems in which
the fluid is at rest.
• A velocity gradient is necessary for the
development of a shearing force.
• So, in the case where acceleration is equal to
zero, only normal forces occur.
• These normal forces are also known as
hydrostatic forces.
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• The pressure exerted at a point in
the fluid by the column of fluid
above the point is

where
P1= the pressure at point 1
ϒ = the specific weight of the fluid
h= the distance between the fluid
surface and the point P1

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 The Womersley Number
 The Womersley number, or alpha parameter, is
another dimensionless parameter that has
been used in the study of fluid mechanics.
 This parameter represents a ratio of transient
to viscous forces, just as the Reynolds number
represented a ratio of inertial to viscous forces.
 A characteristic frequency represents the time
dependence of the parameter.

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 • The Womersley number may be written as

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• Some typical values of the parameter ᾳ for various
species are
• human aorta ᾳ =20
• canine aorta ᾳ = 14
• feline aorta ᾳ=8
• rat aorta ᾳ=3
The fundamental frequency is typically the heart
rate. The units must be rad/s for dimensional
consistency.
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 What is Buoyancy?
• Have you ever wondered why massive boats and ships weighing
hundreds of tons float while small objects like rocks sink? This
phenomenon can be explained by the scientific principle called
buoyancy.
• Buoyancy is the upward force that an object feels from the water
and when compared to the weight of the object, it is what makes
an object float, sink, or remain neutrally buoyant in the water.
• When an object floats, the upward buoyant force exerted by the
water is greater than the downward force of the weight of the
object. You can also understand this concept with numbers. If an
object’s density is less than water’s density (1 g/cm³), it will float.

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• When an object sinks, the weight of the object
is greater than the upward buoyant force
exerted by the water and its density is greater
than 1 g/cm³. When an object is neutrally
buoyant, meaning it neither sinks nor floats,
then the weight of the object is equal to the
upward buoyant force exerted by the water.
When neutrally buoyant in water, the object
also has the same density as water.
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• Buoyant Force=Weight of Displaced Fluid
• This can be explained by Newton’s 3rd law which states
that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
B= weight= mass*gravity
= ρ vg
Where B=buoyant force
ρ =density of water
v=volume
g=acceleration due to graphity

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 Example
• A steel block with a density of 7800 kg/m3 is
suspended from a string in a beaker of water so that
the block is completely submerged but not resting
on the bottom. The block is a cube with sides of 3
cm (0.03 m).
• Buoyant force = weight of displaced water
= mass of water * acceleration due to gravity
= density of water * volume of cube * g
= 1x103 kg/m 3 * 27*10-6 m3* 9.8 m/s2 = 2.65 *10-1
N = 0.265 N
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 Quiz
1. What is the difference of pressure
between point 1 and point 2 given
that v1 and v2 are constant and
the difference in height is 50mm.
Hint: use Bernoulli Equation
Density of blood= 1060 kg/m 3
blood viscosity = 0.0035 Ns/m2
2. Using the result you get from
question 1, calculate the flow rate
given that radius of the tube is
10mm and the length in between
is 100mm.
Hint: use Poiseuille’s law

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