Numerical simulation of the transient shape of the red blood cell in microcapillary flow

The transient shape of a red blood cell (RBC) in a microcapillary flow is simulated under different initial conditions, including various axis orientations and centroid locations, using the LBM-DLM/FD method, which is derived from the lattice Boltzmann method and the distributed Lagrange multiplier/fictitious domain method. Although the terminal velocity is not sensitive to the initial configuration, the evolution of the velocity and the shape are determined by the initial conditions. The parachute and the slipper shape are the most probable shapes for a deformed RBC in the flow. An RBC with an initial axis orientation of 90 degrees exhibits a more complicated deformation. RBCs have a tendency to move to the centerline of a tube if an offset between the RBC centroid and the centerline exists. Our numerical results are validated by experiments, and some details beyond the experiment are provided.