Effect of slip on pulsatile flow of blood in a tube with an overlapping mild stenosis

Abstract

The present study is concerned with the flow of blood in an artery with an overlapping mild stenosis. To account for the slip at stenotic wall, hematocrit, pulsatility of flow and inclination of the tube, blood has been represented by a fluid whose viscosity varies with radial coordinate and hematocrit. The expression for the flow characteristics, namely, the wall shear stress, the shear stress at the critical height of the stenosis, the pressure drop and the resistance to flow (impedance) have been derived and represented graphically with respect to different flow parameters. The resistance to flow increases with the hematocrit and critical height of the stenosis but decreases with slip at wall. With respect to any parameter, the shear stress at the critical height possesses the characteristics similar to that of the impedance.