Heart valve flow computation with the integrated Space–Time VMS, Slip Interface, Topology Change and Isogeometric Discretization methods

Heart valve flow computation requires accurate representation of boundary layers near moving solid surfaces, including the valve leaflet surfaces, even when the leaflets come into contact. It also requires dealing with a high level of geometric complexity. We address these computational challenges with a Space–Time (ST) method developed by integrating three special ST methods in the framework of the ST Variational Multiscale (ST-VMS) method. The special methods are the ST Slip Interface (ST-SI) and ST Topology Change (ST-TC) methods and ST Isogeometric Analysis (ST-IGA). The computations are for a realistic aortic-valve model with prescribed valve leaflet motion and actual contact between the leaflets. The ST-VMS method functions as a moving-mesh method, which maintains high-resolution boundary layer representation near the solid surfaces, including leaflet surfaces. The ST-TC method was introduced for moving-mesh computation of flow problems with TC, such as contact between the leaflets of a heart valve. It deals with the contact while maintaining high-resolution representation near the leaflet surfaces. The ST-SI method was originally introduced to have high-resolution representation of the boundary layers near spinning solid surfaces. The mesh covering a spinning solid surface spins with it, and the SI between the spinning mesh and the rest of the mesh accurately connects the two sides. In the context of heart valves, the SI connects the sectors of meshes containing the leaflets, enabling a more effective mesh moving. In that context, integration of the ST-SI and ST-TC methods enables high-resolution representation even when the contact is between leaflets that are covered by meshes with SI. It also enables dealing with contact location change or contact and sliding on the SI. By integrating the ST-IGA with the ST-SI and ST-TC methods, in addition to having a more accurate representation of the surfaces and increased accuracy in the flow solution, the element density in the narrow spaces near the contact areas is kept at a reasonable level. Furthermore, because the flow representation in the contact area has a wider support in IGA, the flow computation method becomes more robust. The computations we present for an aortic-valve model with two different modes of prescribed leaflet motion show the effectiveness of the ST-SI-TC-IGA method.