Computational study in fluid mechanics of bio-inspired geometries: constricted channel and paediatric ventricular assist device.

• Autor(a) principal: Isler, João Anderson
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da USP
• Texto Completo: http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/3/3150/tde-18072018-140712/
• topic: Bifurcation; Bioengenharia; Channel flow; Dispositivos e instrumentos médicos; Escoamento; Instability; Mecânica dos fluídos; Paediatric ventricular assist device; Ventrículo cardíaco

Numerical modelling and simulation are powerful tools for analysis and design, and with the improvement of computational power and numerical methods they are being applied on complex phenomena and systems. This work shows examples of the application of a very sophisticated numerical method, namely the Spectral/hp element method, in the study of the flow inside bioinspired complex geometries. The two topics investigated are fluid dynamic instabilities in a constricted channel and flow inside a paediatric ventricular assist device were studied by means of computational fluid mechanics. The constricted channel is an idealized model of a nasal cavity, which is characterized by complex airway channels, and also bears some resemblance to a human artery in the presence of an atherosclerotic plaques. The paediatric ventricular assist device is an actual device, designed by the Bioengineering research group of the Heart Institute of the Medicine School of the University of São Paulo, which works as a pump that assists the left ventricle of patients waiting for transplantation. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to contribute in the understanding of biological and bio-inspired geometries flows, using computational tools. Linear and nonlinear stability were carried out for the constricted channel. Three different flow regimes were investigated: symmetric steady flow, which is stable for low Reynolds number, asymmetric steady flow, which rises as a result of the primary bifurcation of the symmetric flow and pulsatile flow. Direct stability analysis was carried out to determine the unstable regions and the critical values for each flow regime. The physical mechanisms behind the transition processes were studied by means of direct numerical simulations to characterize the bifurcations. Since the bifurcations had subcritical behaviour, the relevance of non-normal growth in these flows was assessed. Dependence on phase, Reynolds number and spanwise wavenumber of optimal modes were extensively investigated in stable regions of the three flow regimes. Convective instabilities were also studied in order to comprehend the physical mechanisms which led the optimal modes to their maxima growth, and different convective mechanisms were found. The flow inside the paediatric ventricular assist device was analyzed by means of threedimensional numerical simulations. A computational model based on special boundaries conditions was developed to model the pulsatile flow. In this model, the opening and closure of the mitral valve and diaphragm were represented with the use of specially devised boundary conditions. The driving force and the flow direction of the diaphragm were defined by velocity distribution on the diaphragm wall, and the opening and closure of the mitral valve were performed by a velocity waveform which goes to zero in the systolic period. Flow patterns, velocity fields and time-average wall shear rate were analyzed to evaluate the performance of the device.