Spontaneous alignment of a three-dimensional model of cultured endothelial cells under non-uniform and unsteady flow conditions studied by computational fluid mechanics as an emergent system

The spontaneous alignment of arterial endothelial cells under non- uniform and unsteady flow conditions was simulated using a three-dimensional computational fluid mechanical model of cultured endothelial cells. Endothelial cells were simulated using a 2D Gaussian distribution function, and placed on a flat surface with randomly assigned rotational movement. The Navier-Strokes equations of a Newtonian fluid solved using a finite volume method, and the absolute wall shear stress (WSS) in the case of non-uniform flow and the root mean square of WSS in the case of unsteady flow at the summit of cells was calculated. Only the movement of the cells which reduces the WSS was saved. The cell model eventually showed an alignment after long time simulation in the unsteady flow case. In the non-uniform flow case, cells were aligned along the local flow.