Flow-induced “waltzing” red blood cells: microstructural reorganization and the corresponding rheological response
Chih-Tang Liao, An-Jun Liu, Yeng-Long Chen*
With multi-scale computational modeling tools that accurately captures red blood cell mechanical elasticity and the surrounding fluid hydrodynamic field, we discovered flow-driven synchronized rotation, or “waltzing”, of pairs of red blood cells.
The waltzing dynamic state is part of multi-layered hydrodynamics-induced phenomenon in dilute suspensions. Under fluid flow, the inter-cellular hydrodynamic field causes red blood cells to migrate to the center of the streamline and arrange in well-spaced crystalline positions.
The beautiful phenomenon also affects the suspension dynamics – the intrinsic viscosity either increases or decreases with increasing volume fraction depending on whether the waltzing dynamic state occurred.
(2022), Flow-induced “waltzing” red blood cells: microstructural reorganization and the corresponding rheological response, Science Advances, accepted