Abstract
A passive motion of red blood cell(RBC) under shear flow is numerically simulated based on elastic deformation of cell membrane and flow of surrounding viscous fluid.RBC's motion transition between tumbling(T) and tank-treading(TT) is numerically determined as a function of capillary number,defined as the relative viscous fluid force to the membrane elastic force of RBC.Moderate nonuniformity of membrane's natural state is suggested to be essential consideration to explain the motion transition.Active deformation of an adhesive cell after spreading is also simulated with a simple mechanical model that expresses elastic behaviors of entire cell. A simulated deformed cell shape is similar to a cell shape of in vitro observation,and it is greatly affected by positions of focal adhesions.
