A level set projection model of lipid vesicles in general flows

A new numerical method to model the dynamic behavior of lipid vesicles under general flows is presented. A gradient-augmented level set method is used to model the membrane motion. To enforce the volume-and surface-incompressibility constraints a four-step projection method is developed to integrate the full Navier-Stokes equations. This scheme is implemented on an adaptive non-graded Cartesian grid. Convergence results are presented, along with sample two-dimensional results of vesicles under various flow conditions. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.