%0 Journal Article
%A McWhirter, J.L.
%A Noguchi, H.
%A Gompper, G.
%T Deformation and clustering of red blood cells in microcapillary flows
%J Soft matter
%V 7
%@ 1744-683X
%C Cambridge
%I Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
%M PreJuSER-16983
%P 10967 - 10977
%D 2011
%Z We thank I. O. Gotze, T. Auth, M. Ripoll, G. Vliegenthart, and R. G. Winkler for helpful discussions. Support of this work by the DFG through the priority program SPP1164, 'Nano- and Microfluidics', is gratefully acknowledged.
%X The shape changes and clustering of red blood cells (RBCs) under flow in cylindrical microcapillaries are studied using a triangulated surface model for the membrane and a particle-based mesoscopic simulation technique for the embedding fluid. As the flow velocity increases, the RBCs make a transition from a discocyte shape at low velocities to a parachute shape at high velocities; close to the critical flow velocity, the RBC can also be found in a transient slipper shape. The transition and critical flow velocity are examined for various capillary diameters and RBC volume fractions (hematocrit H-T). At high flow velocities and low hematocrits, the parachute-shaped RBCs can be found in clusters which are hydrodynamically stabilized. Here, the formation of a fluid vortex between neighboring cells, called bolus, develops which keeps the cells at a preferred distance. Decreasing the flow velocity towards the critical velocity, we observe an increasing frequency of drastic RBC shape fluctuations to slipper-shaped RBCs that can result in cluster breakup. These clusters resemble those seen in experiments using optical microscopy.
%K J (WoSType)
%F PUB:(DE-HGF)16
%9 Journal Article
%U <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000296388300060
%R 10.1039/c1sm05794d
%U https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/16983