Effect of shape of the stenosis on the hemodynamics of a stenosed coronary artery

In this study, the effect of the shape of the stenosis on the flow transition in an artery is investigated. Different shapes of the stenosis including round, oval, elongated, half-moon, bean-shape, and crescent with and without eccentricity at a constant degree of stenosis (73%) are studied. A computational model, validated against the in-house Particle Image Velocimetry experimental results, is used to investigate the flow behavior. The results showed that the length of the jet region after the stenotic section varies significantly for different shapes of the stenosis. Based on the analysis of turbulent kinetic energy, power spectral density, and the spectral entropy of stream-wise velocity fluctuations, it was shown that eddies are formed after the dissipation of jet flow downstream of the stenosis. It was also shown that the intensity of the velocity fluctuations differs for different shapes of the stenosis. Furthermore, using the proper orthogonal decomposition method, it was shown that the shape of the stenosis has a significant impact on the downstream coherent structures. It was found that regardless of the degree of stenosis, specific shapes of the stenosis, such as round concentric, create less serious hemodynamic complications compared to the other shapes of the stenosis.