Experi̇mental and numerical determination of the performance of heart assi̇st pump using a non-Newtonian fluid

Heart failure, which has an important place in heart diseases, is a health condition that human heart cannot pump enough blood for various reasons. Mechanical systems called ventricular assist devices (VADs) have been developed assist individuals with this disease. Left ventricular assist devices help blood to be pumped form the left ventricle to the aorta. In this study, the hydrodynamics performance of a mixed flow left ventricular heart assist pump was determined by the computational fluid Dynamics (CFD) method and experimental studies. . In the analysis, the working fluid was used a non-newtonian mixture of water and xanthan solution (by mass 0,06% xanthan gum) which has similar rheological properties to blood, was used as the working fluid. Performance curves of pressure, flow and efficiency of the pump were obtained at rotational speeds of 5000, 6000 and 7000 rpm. In order to compare the results, CFD analysis and experimental studies are repeated with water-glycerin solution (40% glycerin and 60% water) with a newtonian fluid. The pump reached a pressue value of 88,39 mmHg at a rotation speed of 5000 rpm at 5L/ min. At this working point, the pump hyraulic efficiency was determined as 52,74% and the overall efficiency was 18,45%.