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Experimental study of aortic flow in the ascending aorta via Particle Tracking Velocimetry

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Abstract

A three-dimensional, pulsatile flow in a realistic phantom of a human ascending aorta with compliant walls is investigated in vitro. Three-Dimensional Particle Tracking Velocimetry (3D-PTV), an image-based, non-intrusive measuring method is used to analyze the aortic flow. The flow velocities and the turbulent fluctuations are determined. The velocity profile at the inlet of the ascending aorta is relatively flat with a skewed profile toward the inner aortic wall in the early systole. In the diastolic phase, a bidirectional flow is observed with a pronounced retrograde flow developing along the inner aortic wall, whereas the antegrade flow migrates toward the outer wall of the aorta. The spatial and temporal evolution of the vorticity field shows that the vortices begin developing along the inner wall during the deceleration phase and attenuate in the diastolic phase. The change in the cross-sectional area is more distinct distal to the inlet cross section. The mean kinetic energy is maximal in the peak systole, whereas the turbulent kinetic energy increases in the deceleration phase and reaches a maximum in the beginning of the diastolic phase. Finally, in a Lagrangian analysis, the temporal evolution of particle dispersion was studied. It shows that the dispersion is higher in the deceleration phase and in the beginning of the diastole, whereas in systole, it is smaller but non-negligible.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by ETH Research Grant ETH-24 08-2. Support from COST Action MP0806 is kindly acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland

    Utku Gülan, Beat Lüthi, Markus Holzner & Wolfgang Kinzelbach

  2. Turbulence Structure Laboratory, School of Mechanical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Ramat Aviv, Israel

    Alex Liberzon

  3. School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Arkady Tsinober

Authors
  1. Utku Gülan
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  2. Beat Lüthi
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  3. Markus Holzner
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  4. Alex Liberzon
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  5. Arkady Tsinober
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  6. Wolfgang Kinzelbach
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Correspondence to Utku Gülan.

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Gülan, U., Lüthi, B., Holzner, M. et al. Experimental study of aortic flow in the ascending aorta via Particle Tracking Velocimetry. Exp Fluids 53, 1469–1485 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-012-1371-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-012-1371-8

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