SIMULATION OF THE MOTION OF AN INDIVIDUAL
ERYTHROCYTE IN A NARROW CAPILLARY

Z. P. Shul'man, A. A. Makhanek,
and S. A. Gubarev

UDC 532.5

The motion of an individual deformable erythrocyte in 
a capillary whose diameter is smaller than the particle diameter has 
been considered. The problem formulation is based on the Lighthill-
Fitzgerald model. The erythrocyte drag at a given pressure difference 
Acting on its frontal surface has been determined. The dependences 
of the relative drag on the dimensionless parameters of the model 
as well as on the minimum thickness of the lubricating layer and 
the rate of motion of the erythrocyte on the pressure at opposite 
edges of the cell have been obtained.

A. V. Luikov Heat and Mass Transfer Institute, National 
Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 15 P. Brovka Str., Minsk, 220072, 
Belarus. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 78, 
No. 5, pp. 5-9, September-October, 2005. Original article 
submitted November 1, 2004.