Effect of a Circular Ring on the Side Force of a Cone-Cylinder Body

This paper aims to investigate the side force on a cone-cylinder geometry at different angles of attack (α) by adopting experiments and computations. The cone-cylinder configuration had a length to diameter ratio (L/D) of 10, and a base diameter (D) of 25 mm. The nose shape had a fineness ratio of approximately 3. Results indicated that the side force increases with the increasing of the angle of attack. A circular ring was used to reduce the side force at different angles of attack. Using a smaller height ring (2% of local diameter) in the initial portion of the body did not reduce the side force significantly at lower angles of attack. However, a ring with larger height (5% of local diameter) placed at 2.5 times the diameter of the body from the tip reduced the side force at almost all the angles of attack.

Local Diameter, Wall Stress, and Thrombus Thickness Influence the Local Growth of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

Purpose: To investigate the influence of the local diameter, the intraluminal thrombus (ILT) thickness, and wall stress on the local growth rate of abdominal aortic aneurysms. Methods: The infrarenal aortas of 90 asymptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) patients (mean age 70 years; 77 men) were retrospectively reconstructed from at least 2 computed tomography angiography scans (median follow-up of 1 year) and biomechanically analyzed with the finite element method. Each individual AAA model was automatically sliced orthogonally to the lumen centerline and represented by 100 cross sections with corresponding diameters, ILT thicknesses, and wall stresses. The data were grouped according to these parameters for comparison of differences among the variables. Results: Diameter growth was continuously distributed over the entire aneurysm sac, reaching absolute and relative median peaks of 3.06 mm/y and 7.3%/y, respectively. The local growth rate was dependent on the local baseline diameter, the local ILT thickness, and for wall segments not covered by ILT, also on the local wall stress level (all p<0.001). For wall segments that were covered by a thick ILT layer, wall stress did not affect the growth rate (p=0.08). Conclusion: Diameter is not only a strong global predictor but also a local predictor of aneurysm growth. In addition, and independent of the diameter, the ILT thickness and wall stress (for the ILT-free wall) also influence the local growth rate. The high stress sensitivity of nondilated aortic walls suggests that wall stress peaks could initiate AAA formation. In contrast, local diameters and ILT thicknesses determine AAA growth for dilated and ILT-covered aortic walls.