Abstract
The combined effects of hydraulic variation and manufacturing variation on the relative flow difference in drip emitters were analyzed for a drip irrigation submain unit. Emitter manufacturing variation is a random variable and follows a normal distribution, which can be expressed by emitter coefficient of manufacturing variation (v) and a random variable (u) following a standardized normal distribution. Emitter flow rate equation can be expressed by two parts: (1) emitter discharge coefficient (k) and discharge exponent (x) determine the flow rate (kh x) from an emitter at pressure head (h) and (2) the unknown random term (uvkh x), taking into account emitter manufacturing variation. Next, the formula for relative flow difference in a drip irrigation submain unit is derived based on (1) hydraulic variations due to head loss and elevation differences and (2) emitter manufacturing variation. A new hydraulic design procedure for drip irrigation submain unit is proposed based on the formula.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thanks Dr. Morey Burnham from Utah State University for editing the paper for grammar. This study was supported by the Special Foundation of National Science & Technology Supporting Plan (2011BAD29B02), and the 111 Project (B12007).
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Communicated by A. Kassam.
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Zhang, L., Wu, P. & Zhu, D. Hydraulic design procedure for drip irrigation submain unit based on relative flow difference. Irrig Sci 31, 1065–1073 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-012-0388-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-012-0388-3