TY - JOUR
T1 - Modeling soil-plant-water interaction
T2 - Effects of canopy and root parameters on soil suction and stability of green infrastructure
AU - Gadi, Vinay
AU - Singh, Shivam
AU - Singhariya, Manish
AU - Garg, Ankit
AU - Sreedeep, S.
AU - Ravi, K.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to numerically investigate the combined effects of canopy (leaf area index [LAI]) and root properties (root distribution function [Rdf] and root area index [RAI]) on a suction induced in soil-root composite under three different scenarios. Design/methodology/approach: Richards equation coupled with sink term was solved using a commercial finite element package “HYDRUS” to investigate suction induced in soil-root composite. Findings: Scenario 1 unveiled that soil-root composite induces 1 to 20 per cent higher suction than bare soil under the absence of transpiration. From Scenario 2, value of suction at depth of maximum RAI in case of linearly decreasing Rdf was found to be higher than that of other Rdfs. However, depth of suction influence zone (SIZ) for uniform Rdf and non-linear Rdf was found to be 10 and 11 per cent higher than that of linearly decreasing Rdf. Depth of evaporation dominant zone (EDZ) for uniformly decreasing Rdf and non-linear Rdf was found to be 1.08 to 3 times higher than that of linearly decreasing Rdf. From Scenario 3, influence of LAI on depth of SIZ is minimal. Depth of EDZ was found to decrease with the increase in LAI. Based on simple calculation on infinite slope stability, influence of variation in root and shoot properties was found to be significant on its factor of safety. Research limitations/implications: Numerical constitutive model has limitations that it does not consider aging of plant. This model is only applicable for a particular set of soil conditions. A long-term study is required in this field to further quantify parameters for improving calibration and modeling performance. Practical implications: Following are the practical implication: consideration of vegetation properties into engineered design of green infrastructure (slopes in this case) and selection of vegetation with appropriate characteristics in design for enhancement of stability of green infrastructure. Originality/value: Contents of this paper are original, and they have not been submitted to any other journal.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to numerically investigate the combined effects of canopy (leaf area index [LAI]) and root properties (root distribution function [Rdf] and root area index [RAI]) on a suction induced in soil-root composite under three different scenarios. Design/methodology/approach: Richards equation coupled with sink term was solved using a commercial finite element package “HYDRUS” to investigate suction induced in soil-root composite. Findings: Scenario 1 unveiled that soil-root composite induces 1 to 20 per cent higher suction than bare soil under the absence of transpiration. From Scenario 2, value of suction at depth of maximum RAI in case of linearly decreasing Rdf was found to be higher than that of other Rdfs. However, depth of suction influence zone (SIZ) for uniform Rdf and non-linear Rdf was found to be 10 and 11 per cent higher than that of linearly decreasing Rdf. Depth of evaporation dominant zone (EDZ) for uniformly decreasing Rdf and non-linear Rdf was found to be 1.08 to 3 times higher than that of linearly decreasing Rdf. From Scenario 3, influence of LAI on depth of SIZ is minimal. Depth of EDZ was found to decrease with the increase in LAI. Based on simple calculation on infinite slope stability, influence of variation in root and shoot properties was found to be significant on its factor of safety. Research limitations/implications: Numerical constitutive model has limitations that it does not consider aging of plant. This model is only applicable for a particular set of soil conditions. A long-term study is required in this field to further quantify parameters for improving calibration and modeling performance. Practical implications: Following are the practical implication: consideration of vegetation properties into engineered design of green infrastructure (slopes in this case) and selection of vegetation with appropriate characteristics in design for enhancement of stability of green infrastructure. Originality/value: Contents of this paper are original, and they have not been submitted to any other journal.
KW - Green infrastructure
KW - Leaf area index
KW - Root distribution
KW - Soil-root composite
KW - Suction
KW - Wilting point
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85048320333&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/EC-07-2017-0280
DO - 10.1108/EC-07-2017-0280
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85048320333
SN - 0264-4401
VL - 35
SP - 1543
EP - 1566
JO - Engineering Computations (Swansea, Wales)
JF - Engineering Computations (Swansea, Wales)
IS - 3
ER -