Abstract
In this paper we apply a computer simulation to the durability evaluation of a prothetic heartv alve. A tilting disk heart valve which has a single crystal alumina occulder is used to estimate a computer simulation. In this simulation the isoparametric shell element is used to the occulder model which has the diameter(25mm), the thickness(0.6mm), the Young's modulus(485GPa)and the Poisson's Ratio(0. 25)and is supported three stopper around the valve ring . The pressure load of500 mmHg is given under the static pressure condition . From the results of stress distributions and displacement distributions the high stress is observed at the two supported areas on the top surface and around the center hole area on the bottom surface, then most displacement is observed between the two supported areas. Therefore, the destruction of this valve is expected to be the fan-shape and the result of the simulation and the result of the experiment which is a accelerated fatigue test correspond with each other.
