Red Blood Cells and Other Nonspherical Capsules in Shear Flow: Oscillatory Dynamics and the Tank-Treading-to-Tumbling Transition
Year: 2007
Type: article
Abstract: We consider the motion of red blood cells and other nonspherical microcapsules dilutely suspended in a simple shear flow. Our analysis indicates that depending on the viscosity, membrane elasticity, geometry, and shear rate, the particle exhibits either tumbling, tank-treading of the membrane about the viscous interior with periodic oscillations of the orientation angle, or intermittent behavior in which the two modes occur alternately. For red blood cells, we compute the complete phase diagram and identify a novel tank-treading-to-tumbling transition as the shear rate decreases. Observations of such motions coupled with our theoretical framework may provide a sensitive means of assessing capsule properties.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Authors: J. M. Skotheim, T. W. Secomb
Institutions: Rockefeller University, University of Arizona
Language: English
Subfield: Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Award: G1514071976
OpenAlex ID: W1968565520