Class: BE310
Group: M2
Members: Bookbinder, Engler, Hong, Miller
Date:May, 2001
Abstract:
Our experimental objectives were to compute the integrated flow rates
for square and EKG pulse flow from ?P traces and also to compare thermodilution,
Poiseuille flow, and integrated flow calculations to experimentally measured
flow rates. Thermodilution was performed using the Schwan-Ganz
catheter and associated calculations. Poiseuille flow was found from
pressure traces taken across a pressure drop. Determining the integrated
flow rates involved an integrated form of the 1-D Navier-Stokes equation,
following some simplifying assumptions. When examining the
accuracy of the experiment from linear regression and dimensionless analysis,
the thermodilution calculation was most accurate over the whole fluid flow
range, with the Poiseuille calculation differing only significantly at
higher flow rates due to flows above the turbulence threshold (large Reynolds’
Numbers). Thus, near idealized linear inviscid flow occurred at the
lower speeds, as the flow rate calculations do not differ significantly.
For the pulsatile flow calculations, the integration method resulted in
more accurate flow rates than the Poiseuille calculations. While
it was determined that the thermodilution method was the most accurate
(losing only a small amount of accuracy at higher flows), it was shown
that it was not significantly different from the integrated flow calculations.
This indicates that both integrated flow and thermodilution flow calculations
are accurate predictors of flow over a wide range of fluid velocities.