WATER-FLOW THROUGH VESSEL PERFORATION PLATES - A FLUID MECHANICAL APPROACH

The effect of scalariform perforation plates on the flow of water through plant vessels remains poorly understood. In this study, a new computational tool based on finite element method solutions to the Navier-Stokes equation was applied to modelling fluid flow through these structures in plant vessels. Models developed for Liriodendron tulipifera vessel elements were solved for cells with and without the perforation plate to study effects of the plate on the pressure drop along the cell. Results indicate that the pressure gradient was 5-fold greater through the plate than for regions before and after the plate. However, the perforation plate in this species accounts for only about 8% of the resistance to flow through typical vessels because the plate influences flow for only a short distance along the cell relative to its length. Details of the flow characteristics through pores of the perforation plate are also described.