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Mechanical behaviour analyses of sap ascent in vascular plants

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Abstract

A pure mechanical anisotropic model of a tree trunk has been developed based on the 3D finite element method. It simulates the microscopic structure of vessels in the trunk of a European beech (Fagus sylvatica) in order to study and analyse its mechanical behaviour with different configurations of pressures in the conduits of xylem and phloem. The dependence of the strains at the inner bark was studied when sap pressure changed. The comparison with previously published experimental data leads to the conclusion that a great tensile stress—or ‘negative pressure’—must exist in the water column in order to achieve the measured strains if only the mechanical point of view is taken into account. Moreover, the model can help to design experiments where qualitatively knowing the strains and the purely mechanical behaviour of the tree is required.

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Notes

  1. The stems used in the experiments in this paper and the ones for comparison were not submitted to either torsion or strong wind loads.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Butarque, 15, 28911, Leganés, Spain

    Jose-Luis Perez-Diaz, Juan-Carlos Garcia-Prada, Fernando Romera-Juarez & Efren Diez-Jimenez

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  1. Jose-Luis Perez-Diaz
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  2. Juan-Carlos Garcia-Prada
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  3. Fernando Romera-Juarez
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  4. Efren Diez-Jimenez
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Correspondence to Efren Diez-Jimenez.

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Perez-Diaz, JL., Garcia-Prada, JC., Romera-Juarez, F. et al. Mechanical behaviour analyses of sap ascent in vascular plants. J Biol Phys 36, 355–363 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10867-010-9189-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10867-010-9189-1

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