The bending rigidity of submerged vegetation is closely related with vegetative drag force. This work aims at determining the effects of flow conditions and characteristics of vegetation on the bending rigidity of submerged vegetation. Based on the dimensional analysis method, the factors influencing the bending rigidity of individual submerged vegetation were analyzed. The relationship between the relative bending rigidity and its influencing factors was investigated by experimental observation, and a relative bending rigidity expression for submerged vegetation was obtained by means of multiple linear regression method. The results show that the submerged vegetation has three states under different inflow conditions, and the each critical relative bending rigidity of individual submerged vegetation was determined for the different states of submerged vegetation.
The different state of the submerged vegetation has different influences on the flow resistance. This paper explores the relationship between the state and the resistance of an individual submerged vegetation, and the relative bending rigidity of the submerged vegetation is determined by the state of the submerged vegetation. Based on the experimental observations, the state and the resistance of an individual submerged vegetation are analyzed under different inflow conditions. At the same time, the influences of the various submerged vegetations on the flow resistance are discussed under the same inflow conditions. Some interesting relationships are obtained between the flow resistance and the relative bending rigidity of the submerged vegetation, and it is shown that the flow resistance increases with the increase of the relative bending rigidity of the submerged vegetation, and they are positively correlated.