Vascular resistance recent results showing the sheath flow surrounding the plug flow in a vessel, the sheath flow size is not neglectible in the real blood flow velocity profile in a vessel. The velocity profile is directly linked to flow resistance in a vessel. The viscosity variations, according to Thurston, are also balanced by the sheath flow size around the plug flow. The secondary regulators of vascular resistance, after vessel radius, is the sheath flow size and its viscosity. Thurston, as well, shows that the resistance R is constant, where, for a defined vessel radius, the value η(δ)/δ is constant in the
Incompressible flow Incompressible flow In fluid mechanics or more generally continuum mechanics, incompressible flow (isochoric flow) refers to a flow in which the material density is constant within a fluid parcel—an infinitesimal volume that moves with the flow velocity. An equivalent statement that implies incompressibility is that the divergence of the flow velocity is zero (see the derivation below, which illustrates why these conditions are equivalent). Incompressible flow does not imply that the fluid itself is incompressible. It is shown in the derivation below that (under the right conditions) even compressible fluids can – to a good approximation – be modelled as