Click on “Download PDF” for the PDF version or on the title for the HTML version.

If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, Click here for options.

As the key component, emitter has significant effect on the hydraulic characteristics of drip irrigation system. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) provides an alternative approach for studying the complex flow in emitter. A new transient CFD model used for 3D unsteady flow simulation of labyrinth emitter is first proposed in this paper. The flow fields at different time instants are evaluated by the new model, and the corresponding hydraulic characteristic of the labyrinth emitter is predicted. The simulation is based on standard k- model and VOF multiphase model. The velocity and pressure distributions in emitter are obtained. The comparison between numerical simulation and experimental data shows that the transient analysis can present more details of 3D complex flow in and outside the emitter. Furthermore, the influence of mesh styles on simulation precision is deeply studied. The new model provides an accurate way for analyzing the water transportation process in the drip irrigation system.