Simulation of fluid-structure interaction with the interface artificial compressibility method

Partitioned fluid-structure interaction simulations of the arterial system are difficult due to the incompressibility of the fluid and the shape of the domain. The interface artificial compressibility method (IAC) mitigates the incompressibility constraint by adding a source term to the continuity equation in the fluid domain adjacent to the fluid-structure interface. This source term imitates the effect of the structure’s displacement as a result of the fluid pressure and disappears when the coupling iterations have converged. The IAC method requires a small modification of the flow solver but not of the black box structural solver and it outperforms a partitioned quasi-Newton coupling of two black box solvers in a simulation of a carotid bifurcation.