Segregation of Flowing Blood: Mathematical Description

Blood rheology is completely determined by its major corpuscles which are erythrocytes, or red blood cells (RBCs). That is why understanding and correct mathematical description of RBCs behavior in blood is a critical step in modelling the blood dynamics. Various phenomena provided by RBCs such as aggregation, deformation, shear-induced diffusion and non-uniform radial distribution affect the passage of blood through the vessels. Hence, they have to be taken into account while modelling the blood dynamics. Other important blood corpuscles are platelets, which are crucial for blood clotting. RBCs strongly affect the platelet transport in blood expelling them to the vessel walls and increasing their dispersion, which has to be considered in models of clotting. In this article we give a brief review of basic modern approaches in mathematical description of these phenomena, discuss their applicability to real flow conditions and propose further pathways for developing the theory of blood flow.