EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF AERODYNAMIC PARAMETERS OF BUGAMBILIA (Bougainvillea spectabilis) HEDGES AS A WINDBREAK

Abstract

 The objective of this study was to determine experimentally the aerodynamic parameters of Bugambilia hedges to be used as a windbreak for their characterization as porous media in commercial programs of computational ?uid dynamics. This research is part of a project approved by the National Energy Program of Cuba. Samples of Bugambilia hedges with apparent foliage density of 7.19 kg m^-3 were subjected to the action of air currents in an aerodynamic tunnel built in the Center for Agricultural Mechanization (CEMA) of the Agrarian University of Havana. The experimental design included three depth levels of the windbreak (1, 1.5 and 2 m) and four levels of the volumetric air flow (between 5.2 and 7.5 m³ s^-1). Statistically significant differences were found between the three depth levels in terms of aerodynamic porosity of the windbreak ( ), with average values of 0.77 ± 0.05, 0.70 ± 0.07 and 0.64 ± 0.08; resistance of the windbreak ( ) to fluid flow, with average values of 6.39, 9.96 and 12.69 s^-1; and drag coe?cient, with  values of 0.35, 0.55 and 0.89 for depths of 1, 1.5 and 2 m, respectively. Linear statistical models were obtained for the prediction of the pressure difference (  in function of volume flow, with coefficients of determination of 0.68, 0.77 and 0.78 for the three depth levels of the windbreak studied.