Laminar regime transition for blood flow in tubes¹

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Hershey, Daniel | Smolin, Robert

Affiliations: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221; and Formica Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio

Note: [1] This investigation was supported in part by Public Health Service Research Grant HE-08781 from the National Institutes of Health.

Abstract: Using the Metzner and Reed method of analyzing non-Newtonian fluid flow behavior, which is based on the Rabinowitsch-Mooney equation, friction factor-Reynolds number plots were made for whole blood flowing in rigid tubes. It was found for laminar flow that blood behaved in a similar manner to other non-biologic, non-Newtonian fluids if the Reynolds number is the generalized expression proposed by Metzner and Reed. For seven different blood samples and five different tube sizes for each blood sample, it was possible to correlate all the data in a single laminar flow relationship, f=16/NRe up to Reynolds number 2400 where the departure from laminar flow was abruptly evident.

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1967-4204

Journal: Biorheology, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 61-67, 1967