Red blood cell (RBC) aggregation and its influence on non-Newtonian nature of blood in microvasculature

Abstract A robust computational model is proposed to investigate the non-Newtonian nature of blood flow due to rouleaux formation in microvasculature. The model consists of appropriate forces responsible for red blood cell (RBC) aggregation in the microvasculature, tracking of RBCs, and coupling between plasma flow and RBCs. The RBC aggregation results have been compared against the available data. The importance of different hydrodynamic forces on red blood cell aggregation has been delineated by comparing the time dependent path of the RBCs. The rheological changes to the blood flow have been investigated under different shear rates and hematocrit values and quantified with and without RBC aggregation. The results obtained in terms of wall shear stress (WSS) and blood viscosity indicate a significant difference between Newtonian and powerlaw fluid assumptions.