The cell-free layer thickness of an aggregating red blood cell (RBC) suspension in a rectangular microchannel is investigated by hybrid fluid-particle numerical modeling. Several factors affect the suspension viscosity, cell-free layer thickness, and the cell aggregate distribution. These include the hematocrit, vessel size, red cell stiffness, aggregation interaction, and shear rate. In particular, the effect of the shear rate on the cell-free layer thickness is controversial. We found that the suspension viscosity increases along with a decrease in the cell-free layer thickness as the shear rate increases for aggregating model RBCs at low shear rates. At moderate to high shear rates, the cell-free layer thickness increases with the increasing shear rate from medium to strong shear flow for both 10% and 20% red blood cell suspensions.

中文翻译：

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剪切诱导的非单调粘度依赖性的微血管中的模型红细胞悬液。

通过混合流体颗粒数值模拟研究矩形微通道中聚集的红细胞（RBC）悬浮液的无细胞层厚度。几个因素会影响悬浮液的粘度，无孔层的厚度和孔聚集体的分布。这些包括血细胞比容，血管大小，红细胞刚度，聚集相互作用和剪切速率。特别地，剪切速率对无孔层厚度的影响是有争议的。我们发现，在低剪切速率下，聚集模型RBC的剪切速率增加时，悬浮液粘度随无孔层厚度的减少而增加。在中等至高剪切速率下，对于10％和20％的红细胞悬液，无细胞层厚度会随着从中等剪切流到强剪切流的剪切速率的增加而增加。