Study of flow fields and shear stresses distributions through a Björk-Shiley prosthetic valve

Abstract

The method used in this paper takes advantage of the fluid dynamic characteristics of air in a wind tunnel to make an in vitro evaluation of the influence on the flow field and shear forces of a tilting disc model of prosthetic heart valve (Björk-Shiley). Measurements of air velocity fields and shear distribution calculations are reported for three static conditions of the valve opening (10º, 35º and 70º) and airflows to correlate with blood flow rates between 1.5 and 9.3 L/min. The results were consistent with those reported in the technical literature for measurements in test mechanical prosthetic valves with blood flow.