Structure of unsteady flow in the spatially curved model of the common carotid artery with stenosis: a numerical study

Numerical study of unsteady three-dimensional flow in the constructed from clinical data model of stenotic common carotid artery with physiological maximum tortuosity has been carried out. It is established that the maximum intensity of the secondary flow is observed in Dean vortices, but not in swirling (one-vortex) flow; this circumstance should be taken into account, in particular, for conducting clinical measurements. The maximum wall shear stresses, that are dangerous because of possible damage to artery wall, are observed at a distance of 2-3 stenotic vessel diameters behind of stenosis on the external (relative to the center of the radius of curvature) side of the artery and increase with degree of stenosis. The minimum wall shear stresses that are dangerous from the point of view of atherosclerosis are observed on the inner side of the artery and their location is shifted to the end of the cervical segment of artery with increasing of degree of stenosis.