Numerical Simulations of Elastic Cells and Shells in Flow

Orateur : Sebastian ALAND (TU Dresden, Germany)

In this very applied talk, we consider the mechanics of biological cells and synthetic shells and their interplay with surrounding fluids. In the first part, we present a simple numerical model to describe cells as elastic solids surrounded by an additional cortex giving rise to surface tension, in-plane surface elasticity and bending stiffness. The model is used to simulate a single cell, immersed in a fluid flushed through a flow channel. As the cell is defomed by shear and pressure forces, the comparison of numerical and experimental cell shapes permits the extraction of cell mechanical parameters and provides a route to new medical diagnostics by cell mechanics. In a second part of the talk, the mathematical model will be extended to account for hollow shells. For such shells, a swimming mechanism by buckling/de-buckling has been recently proposed by researchers of the LiPhy. We present first simulations of such a microswimmer showing the intense interaction of hydrodynamics, shell elasticity and shape deformations.

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