The Comparison of Different Constitutive Laws and Fiber Architectures for the Aortic Valve on Fluid–Structure Interaction Simulation

Built on the hybrid immersed boundary/finite element (IB/FE) method, fluid–structure interaction (FSI) simulations of aortic valve (AV) dynamics are performed with three different constitutive laws and two different fiber architectures for the AV leaflets. An idealized AV model is used and mounted in a straight tube, and a three-element Windkessel model is further attached to the aorta. After obtaining ex vivo biaxial tensile testing of porcine AV leaflets, we first determine the constitutive parameters of the selected three constitutive laws by matching the analytical stretch–stress relations derived from constitutive laws to the experimentally measured data. Both the average error and relevant R-squared value reveal that the anisotropic non-linear constitutive law with exponential terms for both the fiber and cross-fiber directions could be more suitable for characterizing the mechanical behaviors of the AV leaflets. We then thoroughly compare the simulation results from both structural mechanics and hemodynamics. Compared to the other two constitutive laws, the anisotropic non-linear constitutive law with exponential terms for both the fiber and cross-fiber directions shows the larger leaflet displacements at the opened state, the largest forward jet flow, the smaller regurgitant flow. We further analyze hemodynamic parameters of the six different cases, including the regurgitant fraction, the mean transvalvular pressure gradient, the effective orifice area, and the energy loss of the left ventricle. We find that the fiber architecture with body-fitted orientation shows better dynamic behaviors in the leaflets, especially with the constitutive law using exponential terms for both the fiber and cross-fiber directions. In conclusion, both constitutive laws and fiber architectures can affect AV dynamics. Our results further suggest that the strain energy function with exponential terms for both the fiber and cross-fiber directions could be more suitable for describing the AV leaflet mechanical behaviors. Future experimental studies are needed to identify competent constitutive laws for the AV leaflets and their associated fiber orientations with controlled experiments. Although limitations exist in the present AV model, our results provide important information for selecting appropriate constitutive laws and fiber architectures when modeling AV dynamics.