Reflection in liquid filled tube systems: Modelling the effects of mismatched tube segments

Summary Here we employ an experimentally tested theory of wave propagation in liquid filled distensible tubes to study the interaction of periodic pressure waves with a finite segment of tubing whose characteristic impedance differs from those of the adjoining tubes. Such a tube system occurs when surgical bypass techniques are employed in the arterial system. In this case the source of the pressure pulse (the heart) is periodic and reflections from the insert could reinforce subsequent pulses arriving from the heart causing abnormally high pressures in the adjoining artery. This paper sheds some light on this phenomenon.