Hydrodynamic interaction of multiple flexible membranes and initial position effect of a membrane on its behavior in a microchannel

In this paper, motion of a flexible membrane and hydrodynamic interaction of multiple membranes in a microchannel are simulated by developing a computer code written in C. The membranes are considered as flexible boundaries immersed in the fluid. First a single biconcave shaped membrane with high rigidity is considered. Due to the rigidity of the membrane, it experiences tumbling motion and its vertical displacement becomes oscillatory. Then, the effects of initial position of a circular membrane on its deformation, vertical velocity and displacement are investigated. It was observed that as the initial location of the membrane approaches the channel’s central axis, its vertical displacement and velocity decreased, but its horizontal velocity component increased. Finally, the simultaneous motion of multiple membranes in a microchannel and their interaction with each other and with flow are evaluated. The membranes do not collide and hence the collision mechanism is not modeled. It was found that the upstream membrane experienced greatest deformation and the greatest force was exerted on it by the fluid on it. In addition, simultaneous presence of multiple membranes would result in a reduction in the flow velocity. The current numerical results have good agreement with the available valid numerical ones.