The goal of this proposal is to investigate the flow properties of blood. Blood is a very complex fluid suspension of many ingredients, such as red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and several proteins. It is proposed to combine experiments and theory to discover the correct model for blood that can be used to predict fluid dynamics phenomena in cases of bleeding or aneurysms, or flow around atherosclerotic plaques. The economic impact on the US from cardiovascular disease is about three hundred billion dollars annually. Even a small improvement in this area can have a very strong impact on the quality of human life and on the National economy.
It is proposed here to offer a systematic, multidisciplinary, collaborative, study of the Non-Newtonian blood rheology that will be based on a combined experimental and theoretical effort. From the experimental side, nonlinear and time-dependent rheological experiments are planned on carefully collected and appropriately physiologically characterized blood samples. The experiments, in addition to the more traditional ones (such as Large Amplitude Oscillatory Shear, LAOS) involve new ones (like the superposition of LAOS and steady shear) specifically tailored to probe those blood flow characteristics that are most pertinent to arterial pulsatile flow. By systematically varying the frequency and the amplitude of the imposed deformations, it is proposed to collect a detailed representation for the blood rheological response that can be used to fully characterize it. From the theoretical side, particular emphasis will be placed on using the experimental data to develop thermodynamically consistent models. The models are then proposed to be used in simulating arterial blood flow behavior, in order to investigate the impact of the Non-Newtonian blood rheology in blood flow dynamics, especially under conditions and in situations where the thixotropic blood flow characteristics are anticipated to play an important role, such as flow in aneurisms and around atherosclerotic plaques. The proposed experiments and simulations will lead to the development of demonstration showcases for K-12 students that can also spread the influence of STEM in education, especially for minorities, through the targeted involvement of local minority institutions and through leveraging with minority programs within the University,
