A two phase field model for tracking vesicle–vesicle adhesion

A multi-phase-field model for simulating the adhesion between two vesicles is constructed. Two phase field functions are introduced to simulate each of the two vesicles. An energy model is defined which accounts for the elastic bending energy of each vesicle and the contact potential energy between the two vesicles; the vesicle volume and surface area constraints are imposed using a penalty method. Numerical results are provided to verify the efficacy of our model and to provide visual illustrations of the different types of contact. The method can be adjusted to solve endocytosis problems by modifying the bending rigidity coefficients of the two elastic bending energies. The method can also be extended to simulate multi-cell adhesions, one example of which is erythrocyte rouleaux. A comparison with laboratory observations demonstrates the effectiveness of the multi-phase field approach.