Hydrodynamics of a compound drop with application to leukocyte modeling

We study the dynamics of a compound liquid drop which is comprised of an outer membrane surface, a shell layer, and a core. The deformation due to an imposed extensional flow and the subsequent recovery are investigated computationally employing a combined Eulerian–Lagrangian technique. The numerical method allows for large viscosity and capillarity differences between layers. The present study reports several findings which provide direct insight into developing a dynamic model for leukocytes. A compound drop behaves like a homogeneous, simple liquid drop if the core is sufficiently deformed and the time scale of the core, related to the combination of its viscosity and capillarity, is comparable to that of the shell layer. Disparate time scales between the core and shell layer result in a rapid initial recoil of the drop during which the shell fluid is the primary participant in the hydrodynamics, followed by a slower relaxation period during which the core and shell layer interact with each other. Cons...