Dynamical behavior of compound vesicles in wall-bounded shear flow

TL;DR

This study uses numerical simulations to explore the complex dynamics of compound vesicles in shear flow, revealing new behaviors influenced by thermal fluctuations and vesicle properties, aligning with experimental observations.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed two-dimensional model that captures the rich dynamical states of compound vesicles, including effects of thermal fluctuations, which were previously overlooked.

Findings

Identification of diverse dynamical states including tank-treading, tumbling, trembling, and undulating motions.

Thermal fluctuations are essential for accurate modeling of trembling and swinging behaviors.

External vesicle undulation depends on vesicle size, swelling, and thermal noise.

Abstract

We report a numerical study addressing the dynamics of compound vesicles confined in a channel under shear flow. The system comprises a smaller vesicle embedded within a larger one and can be used to mimic, for example, leukocytes or nucleate cells. A two-dimensional model, which combines molecular dynamics and mesoscopic hydrodynamics including thermal fluctuations, is adopted to perform an extended investigation. We are able to vary independently the swelling degree and the relative size of vesicles, the viscosities of fluids internal and external to vesicles, and the Capillary number, so to observe a rich dynamical phenomenology which goes well beyond what observed for single vesicles, matching quantitatively with experimental findings. Tank-treading, tumbling, and trembling motions are enriched by dynamical states where inner and outer vesicles can perform different motions. We show that thermal fluctuations are crucial during trembling and swinging dynamics, as observed in experiments. Undulating motion of the external vesicle, characterized by periodic oscillation of the inclination and buckling of the membrane, is observed at high filling fractions. This latter state exhibits features that are shown to depend on the relative size, the swelling degree of both vesicles as well as on thermal noise lacking in previous analytical and numerical studies.