Dynamics of the aortic root functional unit using Direct Numerical Simulation

The dynamics of the functional unit aortic valve/aortic root/coronary arteries/ascending aorta is very complex owing to the interaction of several mechanisms that interfere each other; this makes in vivo and in vitro analyses very expensive and numerical simulations a desirable option. In this paper we describe an integrated tool that has been developed over the last decade capable of performing high-fidelity simulations which include the fluid/structure interaction, the deformability of the aortic wall and several other relevant features of the problem. Some representative results are described in order to show the capabilities of the method.