Wind tunnel measurement of aerodynamic properties of a tomato canopy

S. Sase, M. Kacira, T. Boulard, L. Okushima

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the drag coefficient and the relationship between permeability (K) and momentum loss coefficients (C f) of a tomato canopy for various leaf area densities. The experiments were conducted in a large-scale wind tunnel system with a tomato canopy. The static pressures and air velocity measurements were performed at several heights in the y-direction and various positions in the z-direction in the wind tunnel test section. The relationship between pressure drop and air velocity across the tomato canopy was determined using a porous medium approach. A drag coefficient of 0.31 was obtained for the tomato canopy used in the experiment. The permeability of the tomato canopy ranged from 0.006 to 0.65 for a leaf area density (L) of 4 (m2 m-3), from 0.004 to 0.41 for L = 5, and from 0.003 to 0.3 for L = 6 as Cf changed from 0.1 to 1. Thus, a mature tomato canopy having L = 6 could be used with a canopy permeability of K = 0.017 and a momentum loss coefficient of Cf = 0.245.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1921-1927
Number of pages7
JournalTransactions of the ASABE
Volume55
Issue number5
StatePublished - Sep 2012

Keywords

  • Computational fluid dynamics
  • Drag coefficient
  • Momentum loss coefficient
  • Permeability
  • Porosity
  • Tomato
  • Wind tunnel

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Forestry
  • Food Science
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Agronomy and Crop Science
  • Soil Science

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