ABSTRACT
Red blood cells are the most important constituents of blood due to their physiological importance and hemodynamic significance. To study the motion of red blood cells in the microcirculation, an immersed-boundary/latticeBoltzmann method is developed integrating fluid flow and membrane mechanics, and also accounting for cell aggregation. A detailed description of the computational modules is provided, including a lattice-Boltzmann method for fluid mechanics, an immersed-boundary method for fluid-membrane interaction, an explicit fluid property updating algorithm, and a Morse potential for modeling intercellular aggregation. Simulations are presented for several flow configurations to demonstrate the potentiality and usefulness of the computational approach.
