CFC 2025

Resistive valves in electro-fluid-structure interaction models of the heart

  • Bucelli, Michele (Politecnico di Milano)
  • Dede', Luca (Politecnico di Milano)

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We consider the problem of the efficient inclusion of valves in electro-fluid-structure interaction models of the human heart. If the interest of the model lies in capturing the macroscopic effect of the valves on the flow, rather than the details of valve dynamics themselves, models based on the resistive approach offer a valuable and cost-effective alternative to accurate yet costly valve fluid-structure interaction. When the resistive approach is applied to models that include blood-wall fluid-structure interaction, however, it is crucial to ensure that the forces that the fluid flow exerts on the valves are appropriately transferred on the walls to which the valves are attached, so that the overall force balance in the model is correct. We propose a strategy to account for the interaction of resistive valves and cardiac wall mechanics. We apply the proposed strategy to a multiphysics and multiscale electro-fluid-structure modeling framework for the human heart, including three-dimensional representations of cardiac electrophysiology, muscular mechanics and fluid dynamics, and coupled to a closed-loop model of the circulation. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach through numerical experiments in both idealized and realistic settings, highlighting how the newly introduced model affects the displacement and deformation of the cardiac chambers.