Date of Award

Spring 5-2015

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Program

Engineering

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Major Professor

Dr. Martin Guillot

Abstract

This research utilizes CFD to analyze blood flow through pathways representative of central shunts, commonly used as part of the Fontan procedure to treat cyanotic heart disease. In the first part of this research, a parametric study of steady, Newtonian blood flow through parabolic pathways was performed to demonstrate the effect that flow pathway curvature has on wall shear stress distribution and flow energy losses. In the second part, blood flow through two shunts obtained via biplane angiograms is simulated. Pressure boundary conditions were obtained via catheterization. Results showed that wall shear stresses were of sufficient magnitude to initiate platelet activation, a precursor for thrombus formation. Steady results utilizing time-averaged boundary conditions showed excellent agreement with the time-averaged results obtained from pulsatile simulations. For the points of interest in this research, namely wall shear stress distribution and flow energy loss, the Newtonian viscosity model was found to yield acceptable results.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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