Effect of small asymmetries on axisymmetric stenotic flow

Flow through axisymmetric and eccentric sinuous stenoses is investigated numerically, for Reynolds numbers up to 400. The eccentricity consists of an offset of the stenosis throat. A range of stenosis eccentricity is tested; the wake flow is found to be highly sensitive to small eccentricities in the stenosis geometry, even with stenosis offsets of the order of the machining precision of experimental test-sections. Comparisons are made between the numerically simulated flow through stenoses with small eccentricities and results from the literature of non-axisymmetric flows through nominally axisymmetric geometries. The effect of distortion to the inlet Poiseuille velocity profile is also investigated and found to have a significantly less severe effect on the downstream wake flow than geometric eccentricity.