Flow behavior of soft objects like polymers, vesicles and cells in microchannels

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The flow behavior of complex fluids consisting of soft objects like macromolecules (e.g. DNA), vesicles or blood cells will be studied in microchannels. We want to achieve a detailed understanding of the influence of the micrometer size geometry on the transport properties and the structures of the fluid. This comprises the change in conformations of the soft objects as well as a possible structure formation (e.g. aggregation). In addition the influence of soft boundaries on the fluid flow will be addressed. For this purpose we will perform computer simulations employing different techniques. To simulate the fluid flow we will exploit a particle-based mesoscale simulation technique (Multi-Particle-Collision dynamics) which accounts for hydrodynamic interactions. In addition, we will use molecular dynamics simulations and/or triangulated surface models to describe e.g. vesicles. We will start our investigations by considering single particles and then proceed to more complex systems with inter-particle interactions. Our simulations will provide microscopic insight into the interplay between confinement, boundary conditions, hydrodynamic interactions, and inter-particle interactions on the flow behavior of complex fluids.