Enhancing Coastal Resilience: Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of Wind Mitigation using Rhizophora Mangroves in Pichavaram Mangrove Forest

This research investigates the need for mangroves to enhance coastal resilience during natural disasters such as tsunamis, mudslides, cyclones, and typhoons, which pose significant threats to coastal communities worldwide. These tragedies result in the demise of coastal communities, resulting in substantial loss of life each year. This study focuses on the potential benefits of mangroves for coastal region protection from the fluid dynamics perspective. The wind flow around Rhizophora mangrove species in Pichavaram Mangrove Forest, India is investigated in this research using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). A three-dimensional mangrove tree model is designed in Ansys workbench using the data from M.S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Tamil Nadu, India. The simulation of this research is conducted using Ansys fluent software by applying the finite volume method. Velocity is not constant during natural disasters, so in this study wind velocity is considered fluctuating velocity with respect to time. A computational domain (boundary) is generated around the geometry of the model to reduce the impacts of the boundary. Different mesh sizes were used to simulate the flow and a grid-independent study is done to find the optimal grid. The velocity profile and pressure distribution contours are analyzed to study the mangroves' ability to decrease wind velocity. The results clearly show that the speed of the wind gradually reduces to 0 m/s in many regions as it flows around the Rhizophora mangrove tree. The findings of this research suggest that Rhizophora mangroves can serve as a model to break the fluid flow, which contributes significantly to coastal resilience against the impact of natural disasters.