PIV Measurement of Pulsatile Flow in a Y shape Bifurcation and Evaluation of Wall Shear Stress

The mechanism of atherosclerosis has not been clarified yet. It is known, however, that the blood flow and the vessel wall stress might have more or less impact on its occurring. In the present study, in order to obtain the information of pulsatile flow in the arterial Y-shape bifurcation, where the atherosclerosis selectively occurs, the PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) measurement has been carried out for Y-tube solid and elastic models. The results of velocity distributions on the centered plane are described for one pulsatile flow pattern, and the difference of flow patterns between solid and elastic models is discussed. Then the validity of the evaluation of wall shear stress from the velocity distribution is examined in comparison with the measured result and the calculated one obtained by commercial CFD code. In the focused pulsatile flow case, the variation of wall shear stress distribution is clarified, which is expected to be useful as basic data to understand the major impact of flow field in the arterial Y-shape bifurcation.