Affiliations: Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of
Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea. E-mail:
sjlee@postech.ac.kr
Abstract: Kiwifruit vines with broad leaves are easily torn or shed by
high-speed wind. In this study, the threshold wind speed at which a cane is
broken was investigated experimentally with varying physical parameters of a
kiwifruit vine under two different ABL (atmospheric boundary layer) conditions.
In addition, the temporal variation of wind-blown young canes was visualized
using a high-speed camera. The average threshold wind speeds for ABL types A
and B are about 20.5 m/s and 18.9 m/s, respectively. A wind-blown young cane
takes periodic up-and-down motion when it is broken off. The mean fluttering
frequency of young canes of the kiwifruit vines was found to be about 4.5 Hz.