A nonlinear, 3D fluid-structure interaction problem driven by the time-dependent dynamic pressure data: a constructive existence proof (Q2253765)

The flow of an incompressible viscous fluid in a cylindrical channel with elastic walls is studied in the paper. A blood flow in an artery is an example of such a flow. The mathematical model is formulated in the following manner. The fluid occupies the time depended domain \[ \Omega(t)=\{(x,y,z)\in\mathbb{R}^3:\sqrt{x^2+y^2}<R+\eta(t,z,\theta),\;z\in(0,L)\} \] and the lateral boundary of \(\Omega\) is \[ \Gamma(t)=\{(x,y,z)\in\mathbb{R}^3:\sqrt{x^2+y^2}=R+\eta(t,z,\theta),\;z\in(0,L)\}. \] Here, \(R\) is the given positive number, \(\theta\) is the polar angle, and \(\eta\) is the unknown function. The fluid velocity \(u\), the pressure \(p\) and the function \(\eta\) are the unknowns. These functions satisfy the equations \[ \begin{aligned} \rho_f\left( \frac{\partial u}{\partial t}+(u\cdot\nabla)u-\operatorname{div}\,\sigma\right)=0, \quad\operatorname{div}\,u=0\;\text{in}\;\Omega(t),\;t\in(0,T), \\ u=\frac{\partial \eta}{\partial t}e_r,\quad \rho_Kh\frac{\partial^2 \eta}{\partial t^2}+ B\eta=-J\sigma n\cdot e_r\;\text{on}\;\Gamma(t),\;t\in(0,T),\\\;p+ \frac{1}{2}\rho_f| u|^2=P_{in/out},\;u\times e_z=0\;\text{on}\;\Gamma_{in/out}, \\ u(\cdot ,0)=u_0,\;\eta(\cdot ,0)=\eta_0,\;\frac{\partial \eta}{\partial t}(\cdot ,0)=v_0 \;\text{at}\;t=0\end{aligned} \] where \(h\) is the thickness of the shell, \(\rho_f\) is the fluid density, \(B\) is the fourth-order differential operator of elasticity, \(J\) is the Jacobian of transformation, \(e_r\) and \(e_z\) are the unit vectors of cylindrical coordinates, \[ \sigma=-p\mathbb{I}+\mu(\nabla u+\nabla u^T) \] is the Cauchy stress tensor with the kinematic viscosity coefficient \(\mu\), and \(\Gamma_{in}\) and \(\Gamma_{out}\) are the inlet and outlet boundaries of the channel. It is proved that the problem has a weak solution on the time interval \((0,T)\). At the same time either \(T=\infty\), or \(\lim_{t\to T}\min_{z\in[0,L]}(R+\eta(z))=0\).