Simple shear flow of suspensions of elastic capsules (Q1568138)

By numerical simulation, the authors study the deformation of isolated two-dimensional elastic capsules, the interaction between two colliding capsules in infinite flow, and rheological and statistical properties of periodic suspensions of elastic capsules in simple shear flows. The numerical results demonstrate that the behavior of suspensions of capsules with viscosity equal to viscosity of ambient fluid, is intermediate between the behavior of drops and rigid particles, and this is attributed to the membrane deformability and to the tank-treading motion of interfaces. The results are compared with rheological measurements of blood flows.