Université de Fribourg

Reactions and energy absorption of trees subject to rockfall: a detailed assessment using a new experimental method

Lundström, Tor ; Jonsson, Martin J. ; Volkwein, Axel ; Stoffel, Markus

In: Tree Physiology, 2009/29//doi:10.1093/treephys/tpn030

A new method for investigating the detailed reaction and the energy absorption of trees during a rock impact was developed and applied to 15 subalpine Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst) trees. A wedge-shaped trolley, guided by prestressed steel wires, was mounted on a forested slope to simulate a falling rock. The trolley accelerates down the wires and hits a tree at a preselected stem height...

Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries

Expanding the Q-R space to three dimensions

LÜTHI, BEAT ; HOLZNER, MARKUS ; TSINOBER, ARKADY

In: Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2009, vol. 641, p. 497-507