Numerical simulation of aneurysms with Finite Element and Meshless Methods

The purpose of this work is to study the level of principal stresses, equivalent von Mises stress and displacements in two 3D geometric models of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and a non-aneurysmal aorta (NAA), under three different blood pressure conditions. In order to perform the numerical simulation, it was considered the Finite Element Method (FEM) and a meshless method - the Radial Point Interpolation Method (RPIM). The results obtained with both numerical methods were compared. The obtained results demonstrated that the stresses and displacements in the NAA model are uniformly distributed along the inner surface. Differently, in the AAA model, the higher values are located at the end of the aneurysmal neck, indicating sites of potential rupture. Both FEM and RPIM allow to obtain similar results, regardless the analysed model. Lastly, since in this work elastic material assumptions were considered, the increase of blood pressure increases in the same proportion the value of stresses and displacements.