Flow analysis within mechanical heart valve - medtronic hall - and validation of results by numerical modelling

Research was conducted to analyze the flow of a fluid within mechanical heart valve - Medtronic Hall. Physical experiment and numerical modelling were performed. The aim of the research was to determine the difference between obtained experimental and numerical data. In the experiment a dependency between static flow rate within the valve and static inlet and outlet pressure in the valve duct was examined. Moreover a dependency between static flow rate and angular valve position was also determined. Experimental data was used to perform a numerical flow analysis. The obtained flow rate values and angular positions of the valve were set to a finite-volumes-method model in order to achieve model output pressure values identical or similar to the ones obtained from the experiment. The resulting pressure values from the experiment and numerical analyses proved to be of the same order of magnitude, varying only by up to 10%. However, as far as differential pressure is concerned, numerical results were out of the range of measurement resolution. It can be assumed that numerical flow analyses quite correctly predict the real phenomenon and in view of measurement inaccuracy of used sensors authors would suggest using more accurate ones and repeating measurements for future clarification.