In the cardiovascular system, altered flow conditions — such as separation, flow reversal, and low or oscillatory shear stress areas — are recognized as important factors in the development of arterial disease. A detailed understanding of the local hemodynamics, of the effects of vascular wall modification on flow patterns, and of longterm adaptation of the system to surgical procedures can have useful clinical applications. In this context, the availability of effective and accurate numerical simulation tools could be a real breakthrough.

The two-dimensional flow over a square-step can be regarded as a two-dimensional stenosis model from witch some information on the properties at arterial stenoses can be obtained