CFD Analysis of Coronary Artery Blood Flow Using an Ad Hoc OpenFOAM CFD Solver

Abstract

Coronary blood flow is governed by the interaction between pulsatile aortic haemodynamics, the downstream vascular response, and the time-dependent compression exerted by the myocardium. This study presents a custom OpenFOAM solver for simulation of aortic–coronary haemodynamics. The numerical framework combines a power-law inlet velocity profile selected according to the estimated Womersley regime, a three-element Windkessel condition at the aortic outlet, and dedicated lumped-parameter boundary conditions at the coronary outlets, including the effect of intramyocardial pressure. The methodology was applied to two patient-specific aortic–coronary geometries reconstructed from computed tomography data. Numerical discretisation uncertainty was assessed using three mesh resolutions, while the spatial resolution of the detached-eddy simulation was examined by comparing modelled and resolved kinetic-energy contributions. The methodology developed reproduced pulsatile velocity and pressure fields, geometry-dependent recirculation patterns, and distinct pressure responses along the aortic and coronary pathways. Computed velocity and pressure magnitudes were of the same physiological scale as available in vivo coronary measurements. The proposed framework provides a computational methodology for investigating local haemodynamics in patient-specific aortic–coronary anatomies while accounting for the downstream coronary circulation and intramyocardial effects.