Experimental analysis of the lagrangian flow field in an ascending aorta by particle tracking velocimetry

In this paper, the 3D pulsatile flow in the replica of a human ascending aorta is investigated. The presented experimental results are obtained via three-dimensional Particle Tracking Velocimetry (3D-PTV), an image-based, nonintrusive measuring method. The investigation domain is the ascending aorta. A silicon replica of an aorta is used for the experiments. The geometry of the aorta was obtained from a healthy patient by using MRI. The realistic 1:1 aorta replica is transparent which allows to access it optically. We observed that the flow becomes more chaotic in diastolic phase whereas the systolic phase the flow field is quite uniform. In later stages of the systolic phase flow separation becomes visible. In the beginning of the diastolic phase, rotational zones and counter rotating vortices become apparent.