Author(s): T. Schoneboom; J. Aberle
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Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: This paper describes preliminary results from experiments carried out to investigate the influence of leaf area on hydrodynamic drag forces exerted by flexible plant elements. Drag force measurements were made for two flow velocities and different stages of foliation of the vegetation element. The results show that different streamlining mechanisms have a significant influence on the hydraulic resistance behavior of flexible plants. Furthermore, it is shown that the single sided leaf area is not an appropriate surrogate measure for the frontal projected area as frontal projected area depends on both leaf mass and flow velocity. The results indicate that it is possible to derive a species specific resistance law based on the product of drag coefficient with frontal projected area CDA p.
Year: 2009