Motivation, aims, and outline of the thesis

Abstract

Both for medical sciences and fundamental research, blood is an interesting and important suspension. The function of blood is to supply the cells in the human body with oxygen and nutrients and transport waste products away from the cells. The deformability of red blood cells and the fact that human blood is a dense suspension (45% volume fraction) are primary motivations for a better understanding of the rheology of suspensions of deformable particles in general. Even without considering the biochemical and biophysical properties of red blood cells, their mechanical features alone (e.g., deformability and non-trivial shape) give rise to complex rheological features.