Vesicle tumbling inhibited by inertia

Vesicles under flow constitute a model system for the study of red blood cells (RBCs) dynamics and blood rheology. In the blood circulatory system the Reynolds number (at the scale of the RBC) is not always small enough for the Stokes limit to be valid. We develop a numerical method in two dimensions based on the level set approach and solve the fluid/membrane coupling by using an adaptive finite element technique. We find that a Reynolds number of order one can destroy completely the vesicle tumbling motion obtained in the Stokes regime. We analyze in details this phenomenon and discuss some of the far reaching consequences. We suggest experimental tests on vesicles. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3690862]