Estimation of Reynolds stresses within the Penn State left ventricular assist device.

Fluid velocities were measured using a two-component laser Doppler anemometery (LDA) system at 129 locations within a Plexiglas model of a 70 cm3 Penn State electric Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD). The LVAD was driven by a pulsatile piston pump acting on an attached segmented polyurethane diaphragm. Bjork-Shiley tilting disc valves were used to provide unidirectional flow through the inlet and outlet ports. A seeded blood analog fluid, which matched the kinematic viscosity of blood at high shear rates and the refractive index of Plexiglas, was used to make the measurements. At each location, 250 instantaneous velocity realizations were collected at eight instances during the pump cycle. The maximum Reynolds shear and normal stresses were calculated for each pump cycle time and location after filtering the data. The results reveal that the highest Reynolds shear and normal stresses occur in the near wall region just proximal to the aortic valve during diastole, and reach values of 5,300 dynes/cm2 and 10,800 dynes/cm2, respectively. The elevated turbulent stresses are observed during the period of regurgitant flow through the aortic valve, with peak stress values arising during the period of peak regurgitant flow. This supports the hypothesis that a regurgitant turbulent jet is formed near the wall of the prosthetic aortic valve and may be contributing to blood damage.