ARCHER2 Calendar April 2026

Simulated Blood Flow Patterns in an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

Mr Vijay Nandurdikar, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The University of Manchester

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) account for thousands of deaths worldwide each year and are permanent dilations of the abdominal aorta. Often silent until rupture, they carry an overall case fatality of around 80%, making them one of the most lethal vascular conditions. Diameter alone remains an unreliable predictor of rupture, and disturbed blood flow patterns are increasingly recognised as contributors to aneurysm growth and rupture. The image shows a synthetic AAA geometry representing a male patient over 80 years old, generated through an automated framework. Pulsatile blood flow was simulated on the ARCHER2 supercomputer, and the visualisation captures velocity fields at peak systole. Streamlines and colour-mapped slices highlight regions of disturbed flow within the aneurysm sac, illustrating how complex haemodynamics arise beyond what a single-diameter measure can capture. Such simulations demonstrate the power of large-scale CFD to explore anatomy–flow interactions and improve clinical understanding of rupture risk

This image was published on the April page of the ARCHER2 2026 printed calendar.