A test of concept comparison of aerodynamic and mechanical resuspension mechanisms for particles deposited on field rye grass (Secale cercele).: Part 1.: Relative particle flux rates

Resuspension of uniform latex micro spheres deposited on a single seed pod of field rye grass stalk and head was investigated experimentally in a wind tunnel. The experiment was designed to distinguish aerodynamic (viscous and turbulent) mechanisms from mechanical resuspension resulting from the oscillatory impact of the grass hitting a stationary object. The experiment was run for deposited spherical latex particles with diameters from 2 to 10 mum. Wind tunnel tests were run for wind speeds from 2 to 18.5 m s(-1) and a turbulence intensity (root-mean-square fluctuation wind speed/mean wind speed) of 0.1. Our experiments showed the following for our test of concept experiment: Resuspension particle flux increases when mechanical impacts occur. Mechanical resuspension dominated for 2 mum particles over purely aerodynamic resuspension, but for larger particles aerodynamic mechanisms were roughly equally effective in resuspending particles. Published by Elsevier Ltd.