Numerical Simulation of Red Blood Cell Suspensions Behind a Moving Interface in a Capillary

Abstract

Computational modeling and simulation are presented on the motion of red blood cells behind a moving interface in a capillary. The methodology is based on an immersed boundary method and the skeleton structure of the red blood cell (RBC) membrane is modeled as a spring network.  As by the nature of the problem, the computational domain is moving with either a designated RBC or an interface in an infinitely long two-dimensional channel with an undisturbed flow field in front of the computational domain. The tanking-treading and the inclination angle of a cell in a simple shear flow are briefly discussed for the validation purpose. We then present and discuss the results of the motion of red blood cells behind a moving interface in a capillary, which show that the RBCs with higher velocity than the interface speed form a concentrated slug behind the moving interface.