Flow-seaweed interactions of Saccharina latissima at a blade scale: turbulence, drag force, and blade dynamics

Davide Vettori; Vladimir Nikora

doi:10.1007/s00027-019-0656-x

Flow-seaweed interactions of Saccharina latissima at a blade scale: turbulence, drag force, and blade dynamics

Davide Vettori^* (Corresponding Author), Vladimir Nikora

^*Corresponding author for this work

Engineering

Loughborough University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

5 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Physical interactions between seaweed blades of Saccharina latissima and unidirectional turbulent flow were examined in an open-channel flume, focussing on flow velocities, drag force acting on a blade, and blade reconfiguration. The data reveal that seaweed blades adjust to high-energy flow conditions relatively quickly, efficiently reducing flow-induced drag via compaction, a mechanism of blade reconfiguration. The drag coefficient of blades of S. latissima varied between 0.02 and 0.07 over a range of mean flow velocities from 0.1 to 0.55 m/s. Both flow action and blade biomechanical characteristics influenced the blade dynamics, with the flow role being predominant in highly energetic conditions. The interaction mechanisms and their strength were found to be scale-dependent, with the combined effect of reduced mean flow velocity and enhanced turbulence in blade wakes. The thickness of the diffusive boundary layer, an important factor in nutrient uptake from the surrounding water, was estimated to be in the range from 0.010 to 0.067 mm. Mechanisms of blade adjustment to the flow and scale-dependent dynamic interactions between blades and turbulent eddies have direct implications for seaweed growth, acclimation, and survival. The estimates of the drag coefficient and the thickness of the diffusive boundary layer will be useful for the development of bio-physical models, environmental assessments, and design of seaweed farms.

Original language	English
Article number	61
Number of pages	16
Journal	Aquatic Sciences
Volume	81
Early online date	27 Jul 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-019-0656-x
Publication status	Published - Oct 2019

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements
The work described in this publication was undertaken during the Ph.D. study of Davide Vettori at the University of Aberdeen funded by a scholarship from the Northern Research Partnership, Scotland. The authors gratefully acknowledge: Peter Davies and Paul Mitchell for their support and guidance; David Attwood for his assistance during seaweed collection; Hamish Biggs for his assistance during seaweed collection and transport to the University of Aberdeen, and in setting up LED used to synchronise instruments; and Roy Gillanders and Benjamin Stratton for meticulous technical support. Many insightful comments provided by the Associate Editor Professor J. D. Ackerman and anonymous reviewer helped to improve the quality of
the fnal manuscript.

Keywords

Diffusive boundary layer
Drag force
Flow-vegetation interaction
Reconfiguration
Seaweeds
Turbulence
WIND
RECONFIGURATION
HYDRODYNAMICS
LAMINARIA-SACCHARINA
DIFFUSION-BOUNDARY-LAYERS
WAVES
MOTION
GROWTH
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
PHAEOPHYTA

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Flow‑seaweed interactions of Saccharina latissima at a blade scale: turbulence, drag force, and blade dynamics
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Final published version, 2.92 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Flow-seaweed interactions of Saccharina latissima at a blade scale: turbulence, drag force, and blade dynamics",

abstract = "Physical interactions between seaweed blades of Saccharina latissima and unidirectional turbulent flow were examined in an open-channel flume, focussing on flow velocities, drag force acting on a blade, and blade reconfiguration. The data reveal that seaweed blades adjust to high-energy flow conditions relatively quickly, efficiently reducing flow-induced drag via compaction, a mechanism of blade reconfiguration. The drag coefficient of blades of S. latissima varied between 0.02 and 0.07 over a range of mean flow velocities from 0.1 to 0.55 m/s. Both flow action and blade biomechanical characteristics influenced the blade dynamics, with the flow role being predominant in highly energetic conditions. The interaction mechanisms and their strength were found to be scale-dependent, with the combined effect of reduced mean flow velocity and enhanced turbulence in blade wakes. The thickness of the diffusive boundary layer, an important factor in nutrient uptake from the surrounding water, was estimated to be in the range from 0.010 to 0.067 mm. Mechanisms of blade adjustment to the flow and scale-dependent dynamic interactions between blades and turbulent eddies have direct implications for seaweed growth, acclimation, and survival. The estimates of the drag coefficient and the thickness of the diffusive boundary layer will be useful for the development of bio-physical models, environmental assessments, and design of seaweed farms.",

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author = "Davide Vettori and Vladimir Nikora",

note = "Acknowledgements The work described in this publication was undertaken during the Ph.D. study of Davide Vettori at the University of Aberdeen funded by a scholarship from the Northern Research Partnership, Scotland. The authors gratefully acknowledge: Peter Davies and Paul Mitchell for their support and guidance; David Attwood for his assistance during seaweed collection; Hamish Biggs for his assistance during seaweed collection and transport to the University of Aberdeen, and in setting up LED used to synchronise instruments; and Roy Gillanders and Benjamin Stratton for meticulous technical support. Many insightful comments provided by the Associate Editor Professor J. D. Ackerman and anonymous reviewer helped to improve the quality of the fnal manuscript.",

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doi = "10.1007/s00027-019-0656-x",

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AU - Nikora, Vladimir

N1 - Acknowledgements The work described in this publication was undertaken during the Ph.D. study of Davide Vettori at the University of Aberdeen funded by a scholarship from the Northern Research Partnership, Scotland. The authors gratefully acknowledge: Peter Davies and Paul Mitchell for their support and guidance; David Attwood for his assistance during seaweed collection; Hamish Biggs for his assistance during seaweed collection and transport to the University of Aberdeen, and in setting up LED used to synchronise instruments; and Roy Gillanders and Benjamin Stratton for meticulous technical support. Many insightful comments provided by the Associate Editor Professor J. D. Ackerman and anonymous reviewer helped to improve the quality of the fnal manuscript.

PY - 2019/10

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N2 - Physical interactions between seaweed blades of Saccharina latissima and unidirectional turbulent flow were examined in an open-channel flume, focussing on flow velocities, drag force acting on a blade, and blade reconfiguration. The data reveal that seaweed blades adjust to high-energy flow conditions relatively quickly, efficiently reducing flow-induced drag via compaction, a mechanism of blade reconfiguration. The drag coefficient of blades of S. latissima varied between 0.02 and 0.07 over a range of mean flow velocities from 0.1 to 0.55 m/s. Both flow action and blade biomechanical characteristics influenced the blade dynamics, with the flow role being predominant in highly energetic conditions. The interaction mechanisms and their strength were found to be scale-dependent, with the combined effect of reduced mean flow velocity and enhanced turbulence in blade wakes. The thickness of the diffusive boundary layer, an important factor in nutrient uptake from the surrounding water, was estimated to be in the range from 0.010 to 0.067 mm. Mechanisms of blade adjustment to the flow and scale-dependent dynamic interactions between blades and turbulent eddies have direct implications for seaweed growth, acclimation, and survival. The estimates of the drag coefficient and the thickness of the diffusive boundary layer will be useful for the development of bio-physical models, environmental assessments, and design of seaweed farms.

AB - Physical interactions between seaweed blades of Saccharina latissima and unidirectional turbulent flow were examined in an open-channel flume, focussing on flow velocities, drag force acting on a blade, and blade reconfiguration. The data reveal that seaweed blades adjust to high-energy flow conditions relatively quickly, efficiently reducing flow-induced drag via compaction, a mechanism of blade reconfiguration. The drag coefficient of blades of S. latissima varied between 0.02 and 0.07 over a range of mean flow velocities from 0.1 to 0.55 m/s. Both flow action and blade biomechanical characteristics influenced the blade dynamics, with the flow role being predominant in highly energetic conditions. The interaction mechanisms and their strength were found to be scale-dependent, with the combined effect of reduced mean flow velocity and enhanced turbulence in blade wakes. The thickness of the diffusive boundary layer, an important factor in nutrient uptake from the surrounding water, was estimated to be in the range from 0.010 to 0.067 mm. Mechanisms of blade adjustment to the flow and scale-dependent dynamic interactions between blades and turbulent eddies have direct implications for seaweed growth, acclimation, and survival. The estimates of the drag coefficient and the thickness of the diffusive boundary layer will be useful for the development of bio-physical models, environmental assessments, and design of seaweed farms.

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KW - Drag force

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KW - RECONFIGURATION

KW - HYDRODYNAMICS

KW - LAMINARIA-SACCHARINA

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KW - GROWTH

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UR - http://www.mendeley.com/research/flowseaweed-interactions-saccharina-latissima-blade-scale-turbulence-drag-force-blade-dynamics

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DO - 10.1007/s00027-019-0656-x

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85069827335

SN - 1015-1621

VL - 81

JO - Aquatic Sciences

JF - Aquatic Sciences

M1 - 61

ER -

Flow-seaweed interactions of Saccharina latissima at a blade scale: turbulence, drag force, and blade dynamics

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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