Shape changes and motion of a vesicle in a fluid using a lattice Boltzmann model

Abstract

To study erythrocyte deformation and movement in fluid flows, the membrane bending rigidity and elastic modulus are incorporated with a lattice Boltzmann simulation. The stable static biconcave shape is found to resist pathological membrane changes, and the erythrocyte exhibits tank tread-like motion with a highly flattened shape in a shear flow. With intrinsically parallel dynamics, this lattice Boltzmann method may apply to both single and multi-vesicle suspension and complex open membranes in various fluid flows for a wide range of Reynolds numbers.