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Computational fluid–structure analysis of the impact of leaflet thickness and protrusion height on the flutter phenomenon in aortic valve bioprostheses

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Abstract

Although it is associated with the low lifetime of aortic valve bioprostheses, flutter has little been studied in the dynamics of these valves. To improve the understanding of flutter in bioprosthetic leaflets, the present work evaluates the effect of leaflet thickness and protrusion height on flutter parameters through the computational fluid–structure interaction. A bioprosthesis geometry, based on a geometric model available in the literature, and a simplified fluid domain were developed. As a boundary condition, a parabolic velocity profile was applied at the inlet, outflow at the outlet, and fixed support at the sides of the leaflets. The valve cusps were considered with linear elastic and isotropic mechanical behavior, while the blood was modeled as a Newtonian fluid. Turbulence was modeled according to the k-\(\omega \) SST model. The numerical results showed that, due to the occurrence of leaflet oscillations, both fluid dynamic quantities, such as pressure, velocity, and turbulence intensity, and solid domain quantities, such as stress and strain, exhibited an irregular and oscillatory behavior. Furthermore, the radial displacements of the leaflets were asynchronous, and the phase difference between the leaflets increased with increasing thickness. The frequencies ranged from 28.3 to 36.7 Hz, while the amplitudes ranged from 5.34 to 6.53 mm, where the valve with the lowest protrusion height did not develop flutter

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais - FAPEMIG (APQ-02824-21) for their support in this project. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001.

Funding

This study was funded by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais - FAPEMIG (APQ-02824-21).

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Author notes

  1. Saulo de Freitas Gonçalves, João Victor Curado Fleury, Mário Luis Ferreira da Silva, Rudolf Huebner and Artur Henrique de Freitas Avelar have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Program in Mechanical Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Presidente Antônio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 31270-901, Brasil

    Matheus Carvalho Barbosa Costa, Saulo de Freitas Gonçalves & Mário Luis Ferreira da Silva

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Presidente Antônio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 31270-901, Brasil

    João Victor Curado Fleury & Rudolf Huebner

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidade Federal de São João Del-Rei, Praça Frei Orlando, 170, São João Del Rei, Minas Gerais, Brasil

    Artur Henrique de Freitas Avelar

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  1. Matheus Carvalho Barbosa Costa
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Contributions

Matheus Carvalho Barbosa Costa: Writing - review and editing, Writing - original draft, Validation, Software, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization; Saulo de Freitas Gonçalves: Writing - original draft, Validation, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation; João Victor Curado Fleury: Writing - review and editing, Validation, Software, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis; Mário Luis Ferreira da Silva: Writing - review and editing, Validation, Software, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis; Rudolf Huebner: Writing - review and editing, Supervision, Resources, Project administration, Methodology, Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Resources; Artur Henrique de Freitas Avelar: Writing - review and editing, Validation, Software, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis.

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Correspondence to Matheus Carvalho Barbosa Costa.

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Costa, M.C.B., Gonçalves, S.d.F., Fleury, J.V.C. et al. Computational fluid–structure analysis of the impact of leaflet thickness and protrusion height on the flutter phenomenon in aortic valve bioprostheses. Meccanica 59, 685–701 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11012-024-01809-y

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