The deformation behavior of multiple red blood cells in a capillary vessel.

The deformation of multiple red blood cells in a capillary flow was studied numerically. The immersed boundary method was used for the fluid red blood cells interaction. The membrane of the red blood cell was modeled as a hyperelastic thin shell. The numerical results show that the apparent viscosity in the capillary flow is more sensitive to the change of shear coefficient of the membrane than the bending coefficient and surface dilation coefficient, and the increase in the shear coefficient results in an increase in the pressure drop in the blood flow in capillary vessels in order to sustain the same flux rate of red blood cells.