Unsteady blood flow through a tapered stenotic artery using Sisko model

A mathematical study is presented for unsteady pulsatile flow of blood through a tapered stenotic artery. The constitutive equation for Sisko model is utilized to capture the rheology of blood. A realistic geometry of the time-variant stenosis is considered for the present analysis. The problem is modeled under the assumption that the lumen radius is sufficiently smaller than the wavelength of the pulsatile pressure wave. A radial coordinate transformation is used to immobilize the effect of the vessel wall. Employing the finite difference method, the governing equations are integrated along with the prescribed boundary conditions over the whole arterial segment under consideration. The radial and axial velocity, volumetric flow rate, resistance impedance and wall shear stress are analyzed for various values of the emerging parameters through graphical results. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.