Numerical simulation of blood flow in the thoracic aorta using a centerline-fitted finite difference approach

This paper presents a numerical method to simulate a blood flow in a thoracic aorta. Patient-specific aorta shapes are used in a centerline-fitted curvilinear coordinate system in which the Navier-Stokes equation is discretized using finite-difference approximation with immersed boundary method. The main target of this study is the elucidation of flow fields in the thoracic aorta which is considered to be affecting the development of aneurysms. Swirling flow occurrence is investigated using simplified shapes of pipes with curvature and torsion.