Theory of non-Newtonian viscosity of red blood cell suspension: effect of red cell deformation.
The effects of the deformation of red blood cells on non-Newtonian viscosity of a concentrated red cell suspension are investigated theoretically. To simplify the problem an elastic spherical shell filled with an incompressible Newtonian fluid is considered as a model of a normal red cell. The equation of the surface of the shell suspended in a steady simple shear flow is calculated on the assumption that the deformation from a spherical shape is very small. The relative viscosity of a concentrated suspension of such particles is obtained based on the "free surface cell" method proposed by Happel. It is shown that the relative viscosity decreases as the shear rate increases.
D001809:Blood Viscosity; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000502:physiology; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D006400:Hematocrit; D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D012212:Rheology