Red Blood Cell Deformation

Simulation of the fluid/structure interaction that dominates the dynamics of these flows poses a formidable challenge to even the most advanced numerical techniques, and is currently at the forefront of ongoing work in computational fluid dynamics. A major challenge in the implementation of any non-boundary conforming methodology is the establishment of the relation between the Lagrangian coordinates of the body and the underlying Eulerian grid and the imposition of boundary conditions.

Modeling the deformation of red blood cells under shear flow conditions.

The RBC was modeled as a capsule freely suspended in a viscous shear flow. The capsule consists of an elastic membrane containing another viscous fluid with the same properties inside and outside.

Pressure contours and streamlines show the deformation under shear stresses.

The model captures the membrane elasticity and fluid interaction at microscale. Validation was considered in comparisons with....