Modelling and application of fluid-structure interaction in the study of wind fields and crops interaction: A review

Abstract

The interaction between wind fields and crops constitutes a complex dynamic process involving the multi-scale coupling effects of fluid-solid mechanics. This interaction causes mechanical responses in crops, such as leaf oscillation and stem bending. It also changes local airflow patterns and turbulence, ultimately affecting the microclimate in agricultural fields. Fluid-structure interaction (FSI) involves complex multi-physics and multi-scale processes. By integrating computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with computational solid mechanics (CSM), FSI offers a strong theoretical framework and numerical tools to model these coupled interactions. However, there has been no systematic review evaluating the role of FSI in understanding wind-crop interactions. Therefore, this review aims to systematically evaluate the role of FSI in wind-crop interaction studies by synthesizing existing research, assessing current applications across spatial scales and discussing future research directions. This review first systematically examines the construction of FSI models, focusing on critical aspects such as fluid model selection, solid model development, boundary condition configuration, fluid–structure model parameter acquisition and coupling algorithm implementation. Subsequently, the paper provides a comprehensive review of FSI applications in wind-crop interaction studies from 1995 to 2025. The research findings are categorised from small-scale studies (e.g., leaf aerodynamics, stem motion, root mechanics) to large-scale investigations (e.g., canopy wind resistance, collective aerodynamic effects), and their corresponding verification methods are also summarised. Moreover, existing limitations in current research are highlighted. Finally, the paper outlines potential optimisation strategies and future research directions to address challenges related to computational efficiency, model accuracy and applicability in FSI-based studies of agricultural management systems.