Experimental investigations of the steady flow through an idealized model of a femoral artery bypass

The present paper presents the steps taken by the authors in the first stage of an experimental program within a larger national research project whose objective is to characterize the flow through a femoral artery bypass with a view to finding solutions for its optimization. The objective of the stage is to investigate by means of the PIV method the stationary flow through a bypass model with an idealized geometry. A bypass assembly which reunites the idealized geometry models of the proximal and distal anastomoses, and which respects the lengths of a femoral artery bypass was constructed on the basis of data for a real patient provided by medical investigations. With the aim of testing the model and the established experimental set-up with regard to their suitability for the assessment of the velocity field associated to the steady flow through the bypass, three zones that can restore the whole distal anastomosis were PIV investigated. The measurements were taken in the conditions of maintained inflow at the bypass entry of 0.9 l / min (Re = 600). The article presents comparatively the flow spectra and the velocity fields for each zone obtained in two situations: with the femoral artery completely occluded and completely open.