Analysis of the Hydraulic Performances of a New Liquid Emitter Based on a Leaf Vein Concept

The leaf-vein drip irrigation emitter is a new type of drip emitter based on a bionic structure able to support shunting, sharp turns, and increased dissipation. In the present work, the results of twenty-five tests executed in the framework of an orthogonal design strategy are presented in order to clarify the influence of the geome-trical parameters of the flow channel on the hydraulic characteristics of such emitter. The corresponding flow index and head loss coefficient are determined through numerical simulations and model testing. The results show that the flow index of the flow channel is 0.4970 similar to 0.5461, which corresponds to good hydraulic perfor-mances. The head loss coefficient of the flow channel is 572.74 similar to 3933.05, which in turn indicates a good energy dissipation effect. The order of influence of the leaf vein flow channel parameters on the flow index can be repre-sented in a synthetic way as a > b > c > d > e, where (a) is the width of the inlet, (b) is the horizontal distance of the front water inlet, (c) is the vertical distance of the inner edge of the front end, (d) is the horizontal distance of the rear water outlet and (e) is the vertical distance of the outer edge of the front end. The flow index increases with d, decreases with a, first decreases, and then increases with b, and first increases and then decreases with the increase of c and e. The coefficient (R2) of the fitted model related to geometric parameters and flow index is 0.9986- 0.9999. The relative errors among experimental testing, simulation calculation and predictive estimates are shown to be less than 5%.