Analysis of blood flow in deformable vessels via a lattice Boltzmann approach

In this paper, the lattice Boltzmann (LB) method is used in order to simulate non-Newtonian blood flows in deformable vessels. Casson's rheological model is adopted and a local correction to the relaxation time is implemented in order to modify the viscosity. The hyperelastic, hardening and anisotropic behavior of a flexible arterial wall is discussed and a closed-form solution is used to predict the deformed configuration of the vessel. A partitioned staggered-explicit strategy to couple the LB method and such analytical prediction is proposed.