15 th International Symposium on Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering and 3 rd Conference on Imaging and Visualization CMBBE 2018 NUMERICAL STUDY OF CAROTID BIFURCATION ANGLE EFFECT ON BLOOD FLOW DISORDERS N. Lewandowska * , M. Micker † , M. Ciałkowski * , M. Warot † , A. Frąckowiak * , P. Chęciński † * Poznan University of Technology Faculty of Machines and Transport Chair of Thermal Engineering Piotrowo 3, 60-695 Poznan, Poland natalia.lewandowska.pp@gmail.com † Poznan University of Medical Sciences (PUMS), Department of General and Vascular Surgery and Angiology 34 Dojazd St, 60-631 Poznan, Poland maciej.micker@wp.pl Keywords: Biomechanics, Biomedical Engineering, Computational Fluid Mechanics, carotid artery, bifurcation angle, internal carotid artery, external carotid artery, non-Newtonian fluid, atherosclerosis, numerical modeling, CFD Abstract: The paper presents study results of the impact of the common carotid artery bifurcation angle on the flow disorders. The studies were carried out using numerical methods. Based on actual images, geometry was made of the diffuser channel with bifurcation and predetermined angle. The flow simulation results showed that for bifurcation angles exceeding 60° the whirlpools near the bulb start to occur – at that time almost a double increase of the parameter values takes place, related to flow disorders. The whirlpools become increasingly larger and grow proportionally to the value of the bifurcation angle. Thanks to the studies carried out, three areas have been shown, in which plaques may deposit, due to disadvantageous geometry. Based on the simulation results, arteries have been divided into three groups of risk. It has been proven that bifurcations exceeding 50 degrees significantly disturb the flow and the points of whirlpool occurrence represent frequent points of plaque depositions.