Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 August 2011
Blood rheology is completely determined by its major corpuscles which are erythrocytes,or red blood cells (RBCs). That is why understanding and correct mathematical descriptionof RBCs behavior in blood is a critical step in modelling the blood dynamics. Variousphenomena provided by RBCs such as aggregation, deformation, shear-induced diffusion andnon-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 importantblood corpuscles are platelets, which are crucial for blood clotting. RBCs strongly affectthe platelet transport in blood expelling them to the vessel walls and increasing theirdispersion, which has to be considered in models of clotting. In this article we give abrief review of basic modern approaches in mathematical description of these phenomena,discuss their applicability to real flow conditions and propose further pathways fordeveloping the theory of blood flow.