Viscoelastic blood flow through arterial stenosis—Effect of variable viscosity

Current theoretical investigation deals with mathematical model of unsteady non-Newtonian flow of blood through a stenosed artery. The flowing blood is considered as a viscoelastic fluid having shear-thinning rheology and characterized by generalised Oldroyd-B model. The arterial wall is considered to be rigid having cosine shaped stenosis in its lumen. The governing equations of motion accompanied by appropriate choice of the initial and boundary conditions are solved numerically by MAC (Marker and Cell) method and the results are checked for numerical stability with desired degree of accuracy. The quantitative analysis has been carried out finally which includes the respective profiles of the flow-field. The key factors like the wall shear stress and flow separation are also examined for further qualitative insight into the flow through arterial stenosis. The present results show quite consistency with several existing results in the literature which substantiate sufficiently to validate the applicability of the model under consideration.

► Numerical simulation of generalised Oldroyd-B fluid through arterial stenosis is based on MAC method.
► Severity of the stenosis affect the pressure drop and the velocity profile considerably.
► Flow separation for viscoelastic fluid occurs with changing the severity of the stenosis.
► Wall shear stress at the throat of the stenosis changes considerably with different viscoelastic parameter.
► Study under consideration would be of much help to understand the flow phenomenon under stenotic condition.