Abstract
The formation of rouleaux of red blood cells is considered as an interaction of the surface adhesive energy and the elastic strain energy of the red blood cell membrane. A dynamic energy equation is written which applies to both the process of aggregation and the disaggregation by external forces. Any equilibrium state may be regarded as minimization of the appropriate energy potentials. The theory is illustrated by the computation of the shapes of two cell rouleaux under different surface adhesive energies. Disaggregation is studied in a model in which the red blood cells are idealized as cylindrical forms. It is shown that during disaggregation the strain energy stored in the cell contributes to the work done in overcoming the adhesive energy.
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