Spatial variations in shear stress in a 3-D bifurcation model at low Reynolds numbers

Real-time wall shear stress is difficult to monitor precisely because it varies in space and time. Microelectromechanical systems sensor provides high spatial resolution to resolve variations in shear stress in a 3-D bifurcation model for small-scaled hemodynamics. At low Reynolds numbers from 1.34 to 6.7 skin friction coefficients (C-f) varied circumferentially by a factor of two or more within the bifurcation. At a Reynolds number of 6.7, the C-f value at the lateral wall of the bifurcation along the 270 degrees plane was 7.1, corresponding to a shear stress value of 0.0061 dyn/cm(2). Along the 180 degrees plane, C-f was 13 or 0.0079 dyn/cm(2), and at the medial wall along the 90 degrees plane, C-f was 10.3 or 0.0091 dyn/cm(2). The experimental skin friction coefficients correlated with values derived from the Navier-Stokes solutions.