Abstract:
This paper presents the experimental investigations on drag force characteristics of vegetation in
mitigating the impact of tsunami and other surge effects by the resistance offered to the flow. The experiment was
conducted in a laboratory towing tank of 50m x 2m x 2m. Three types of vegetation species used were the trees
with small thin broad leaves (Wetakeyya), large broad leaves (Kottamba) and stick type leaves (Kasa). The drag
force characteristics of the vegetations mainly depend on the differences in the distribution of foliation, different
streamlining mechanism of the leaves against flow, the roughness and the shape of the tree trunk. Drag coefficient
of vegetation varies with the flow velocity; the lower flow velocities show higher drag coefficients because of the
maximum frontal projected area of the plant.
The drag coefficients for the canopies show higher values for the Reynolds numbers less than 106. For canopies
with large broad leaves (Kottamba), it ranges from 0.02 to 0.2. The drag coefficients for small thin broad leaves
(Wetakeyya) and stick type leaves (Kasa) range from 0.1 to 1.7 and 0.18 to 0.7. Comparatively the drag
coefficient of Wetakeyya is greater than Kottamba and Kasa at larger Reynolds numbers (Re > 106).
Previous studies on vegetal drag are mainly focused on the single rigid cylinders and colony of rigid cylinders.
The studies with single rigid cylinders show an almost linear relationship between drag force and square of the
mean velocity of flow. However, the limited studies with natural flexible vegetation show a linear relationship
between drag force and mean velocity. Drag coefficient for the trunks of above three types of trees were found less
than the smooth cylinder for the region of Re > 60000. For this region the drag coefficient for Kasa trunk ranged
in between 0.9 to 1.0 while for the smooth PVC pipe it ranged in between 1.2 – 1.4. For Kottamba it was in
between 0.8 – 0.9 and for Wetakeyya it was around 0.6.
