ABSTRACT

Blood is a complex substance containing water, inorganic ions, proteins, and cells. Approximately 50% is plasma, a nearly Newtonian uid consisting of water, ions, and proteins. e balance contains erythrocytes (red blood cells), leukocytes (white blood cells), and platelets. Whereas the behavior of blood in vessels smaller than approximately 100 H exhibits signicant non-Newtonian eects, ow in larger vessels can be described reasonably accurately using the Newtonian assumption. ere is some

evidence suggesting that in blood analog uids wall shear stress distributions may dier somewhat from Newtonian values (Liepsch et al. 1991).