Deformation and buckling of microcapsules in a viscoelastic matrix.

In this paper, we numerically study the dynamics of (1) a Newtonian liquid-filled capsule in a viscoelastic matrix and that of (2) a viscoelastic capsule in a Newtonian matrix in a linear shear flow using a front-tracking method. The numerical results for case (1) indicate that the polymeric fluid reduces the capsule deformation and aligns the deformed capsule with the flow direction. It also narrows the range of tension experienced by the deformed capsule for case (1), while the tank-treading period significantly increases. Interestingly, the polymeric fluid has an opposite effect on the tank-treading period and the orientation angle of case (2), but its effect on the deformation is similar to case (1).