The blood hammer effect is one of the supposed mechanisms for blunt traumatic aortic ruptures. In this study, the pressure in a pulsatile flow were recorded at different locations along the aorta. Two aortas were subjected to this pulsatile flow at a rate of 60 b.p.m, and a sudden occlusion at the distal part were applied. The pressure wave characteristics, amplitude and phase, were extracted with a Fourier series decomposition and compared with respect to the distance from the isthmus for the different harmonics. The experiments show that the maximum of pressure increased significantly (~11-14%) with the distance from the isthmus with occlusion. The occlusion has created a retrograde pressure wave at higher velocity (19 and 27 m/s) compared to the normal pressure pulse wave (4-5 m/s). This backwards pressure wave created a short-lived overpressure (2 cardiac pulses) that also decreased to the isthmus. The maximum pressure of this wave (~18 kPa maximum) was lower than the level reported in literature (~100 kPa) and was not sufficient to create a rupture under the tested conditions. The geometry of the aorta (diameter, taper shape, curvature of the arch, etc.) had an influence on the characteristics of the pressure wave. However, the present study reproduced, with some limitations, a water hammer and analyse its propagation along the aorta under physiological conditions.