CARLETON UNIVERSITY

Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

PRELIMINARY COURSE OUTLINE

MECH 3310A Biofluid Mechanics - Fall 2010
Course Instructor: Prof. S.A. Sjolander (ssjoland@mae.carleton.ca)

COURSE TOPICS
Week

1 Introduction. Cardiovascular system. Anatomy and physiology. Cardiac cycle. Shear stress
and rate of strain. Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids.
2 Hematology and blood rheology. Pulmonary system. Anatomy and physiology. Biomedical
devices.
3 Review of the control volume and equations of motion: continuity, momentum and energy
equations. Bernoulli equation: restrictions.
4 Similarity and non-dimensional parameters. Concept of similarity. Buckingham pi theorem
and dimensional analysis.
5 Physical significance of non-dimensional parameters. Incompressible versus compressible flow.
Application to biomedical flows.
6 Viscous flows. Concept of the boundary layer. Laminar flow, turbulent flow and transition.
7 Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible flow. Physical significance of terms and
simplifications.
8 Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations, Reynolds stresses and turbulence modelling.
9 Exact solutions for simple laminar flows: Stokes and Couette flows. Flow in branching and curved
ducts: secondary flow. Sudden expansion.
10 Pulsatile flow. Solution approach. Simplified solutions for rigid tubes: Womersley solution and
Womersley number.
11 Pulsatile flow in the large arteries. Effect of wall compliance.
12 Measurement of flow and pressure in biomedical flows. Role of computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) in biomedical flow analysis. Review.

Recommended texts: L. Waite & J. Fine, Applied Biofluid Mechanics, McGraw-Hill, 2007.
F.M. White, Fluid Mechanics, McGraw-Hill (Any edition).
F.M. White, Viscous Fluid Flow, McGraw-Hill (Any edition)

Preliminary Marking Scheme: Laboratory Work: 15%

Midterm Examination: 20%
Final Examination: 65%

Laboratory attendance and submission of all laboratory reports are compulsory. Failure to submit any
laboratory report or to receive an overall passing grade for the reports will result in a grade of FND for the
course. The final examination is for evaluation purposes only and will not be returned to students.

Students with disabilities that require academic accommodation in this course are encouraged to contact a
co-ordinator at the Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities as early as possible.

Final Course Outline: The final course outline will be distributed in the first scheduled class. The final
outline will replace the preliminary outline given here.