Trees bend and twist when subjected to wind. This deformation, or reconfiguration, allows the tree to reduce its drag. In our paper published in the Journal of Fluids and Structures we investigate how torsional and bending deformations play different roles in reconfiguration. We investigate this through a combination of wind tunnel experiments on flexible reinforced foam rods and a theoretical Kirchhoff rod model.
Kirchhoff rod bending and twisting with large amplitude under fluid flow