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Chapter 7

This document discusses permeability and hydraulic conductivity of soils. It contains the following key points: - Soils have interconnected voids that allow water to flow through the soil from high to low energy points. The rate of flow is known as permeability or hydraulic conductivity. - Darcy's law relates flow rate to hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic gradient. Laboratory tests like constant head and falling head tests can be used to measure conductivity. - Empirical equations have been developed to estimate conductivity from soil properties like void ratio, effective size, and empirical coefficients. - In stratified soils, an equivalent hydraulic conductivity can be calculated to represent the combined effect of all layers. - Field pumping tests using wells can also be

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356 views30 pages

Chapter 7

This document discusses permeability and hydraulic conductivity of soils. It contains the following key points: - Soils have interconnected voids that allow water to flow through the soil from high to low energy points. The rate of flow is known as permeability or hydraulic conductivity. - Darcy's law relates flow rate to hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic gradient. Laboratory tests like constant head and falling head tests can be used to measure conductivity. - Empirical equations have been developed to estimate conductivity from soil properties like void ratio, effective size, and empirical coefficients. - In stratified soils, an equivalent hydraulic conductivity can be calculated to represent the combined effect of all layers. - Field pumping tests using wells can also be

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Chapter 7: Permeability

• Soils have interconnected voids through which


water can flow from points of high energy to
points of low energy.
• Estimating the quantity of underground seepage
under various hydraulic conditions.
• For investigating problems involving the pumping
of water for underground construction.
• Making stability analyses of earth dams and
earth-retaining structures that are subject to
seepage forces.
Hydraulic Conductivity

Bernoulli’s Equation:

Where: h = total head


u = pressure
v = velocity
g = acceleration due to gravity
γw = unit weight of water
Z = is the vertical distance of a given point
above or below a datum plane.
Pressure, elevation, and total heads for flow of water
through soil
Because the seepage velocity is small:
u
h z
w
The head loss, Δh, can be expressed in a
nondimensional form as:
h
i
L
Where: i = hydraulic gradient
L = distance between points A and B –
that is, the length of flow over which the loss of
head occurred
Darcy’s Law:
v  ki
Where: v = discharge velocity, which is the
quantity of water flowing in unit time through a
unit gross cross-sectional area of soil at right angles
to the direction of flow
k = hydraulic conductivity (otherwise
known as the coefficient of permeability)
Given, q, the quantity of water flowing through the
soil in unit time:
q  vA  Avvs
Where: vs = seepage velocity
Av = area of voids in the cross section of
the specimen

Also:
A  Av  As
Where: As = area of soil solids in the cross
section of the specimen
q  v Av  As   Av vs
v Av  As  v Av  As L vVv  Vs 
vs   
Av Av L Vv

Where: Vv = volume of voids in the specimen


Vs = volume of soil solids in the
specimen
  Vv   Where: e = void ratio
1     n = porosity
  V s   1  e  v
vs  v  v 
 Vv   e  n
 V 
 s 
Hydraulic Conductivity
The hydraulic conductivity of a soil is also related to the
properties of the fluid flowing through it by the equation:

w
k K

Where :
 w  unit weigh t of water
  viscosity of water
K  absolute permeabili ty
Example Problem:

A permeable soil layer is underlain by an


impervious layer as shown. With k = 5.3 x 10-3
cm/sec for the permeable layer, calculate the rate
of seepage through it in m3/hr/m width if H = 3 m
and α = 8˚.
Example Problem:

The hydraulic conductivity of a clayey soil is 3 x 10-7


cm/sec. The viscosity of water at 25°C is 0.0911 x 10-4 g
sec/cm2. Calculate the absolute permeability of the soil.
Laboratory Determination of Hydraulic
Conductivity

1. Constant Head Test (For Coarse-Grained Soils)


2. Falling Head Test (For Fine-Grained Soils)
Constant Head Test:
Q  Avt  Akit
Where: A = area of cross
section of the soil specimen
t = duration of
water collection
h Where: L = length
i
L of the specimen
 h QL
Q  A k t k
 L Aht
Example Problem:

A constant head laboratory permeability test on a fine


sand gives the following values:
Length of specimen = 254 mm
Diameter of specimen = 63.5 mm
Head difference = 457 mm
Water collected in 2 min = 0.51 cm3

Determine these values:


a. Hydraulic conductivity, k, of the soil (cm/sec)
b. Discharge velocity (cm/sec)
c. Seepage velocity (cm/sec)

The void ratio of the soil specimen is 0.46.


Example Problem:

For a constant head permeability test, the


following values are given:
L = 300 mm
A = specimen area = 32 cm2
k = 0.0244 cm/sec

The head difference was slowly changed in steps to


800, 700, 600, 500, and 400 mm. Calculate and plot
the rate of flow, q, through the specimen, in
cm3/sec, against the head difference.
Falling Head Test:
h dh
q  k A  a
L dt

Where: a = cross-
sectional area of the
standpipe
A = cross-
sectional area of the soil
specimen
aL  dh 
dt    
Ak  h 

aL h1
t log e
Ak h2

aL h1
k  2.303 log 10
At h2
Example Problem:

For a variable head permeability test, the following


values are given: length of specimen = 380 mm,
area of specimen = 19.4 cm2, and k = 2.92 x 10-3
cm/sec. What should be the area of the standpipe
for the head to drop from 640 to 320 mm in 8 min?
Empirical Relations for Hydraulic Conductivity

Hazen:
k (cm/sec)  cD 2
10

Where: c = a constant that varies from 1.0 to


1.5.
D10 = the effective size (mm).
Casagrande:
k  1.4e 2 k0.85
Where: k = hydraulic conductivity at a void ratio
e.
k0.85 = the corresponding value at a void
ratio of 0.85.
Kozeny-Carman:
e3 Where: k = hydraulic
k  C1
1 e conductivity at a void ratio e.
C1 = a constant.
Samarasinghe, Huang, and Drnevich:
en
k  C3
1 e
Where: C3 and n are constants to be determined
experimentally

The equation can be rewritten as follows:


log k 1  e  log C3  n log e
Example Problem:

The hydraulic conductivity of a sand at a void ratio


of 0.5 is 0.02 cm/sec. Estimate its hydraulic
conductivity at a void ratio of 0.65.
Example Problem:

For a normally consolidated clay soil, the following


values are given:
Void ratio k (cm/sec)
1.1 0.302 x 10-7
0.9 0.12 x 10-7

Estimate the hydraulic conductivity of the clay at a


void ratio of 0.75. Use Huang, et. al.’s empirical
equation.
Equivalent Hydraulic Conductivity in Stratified Soil
Example Problem:
Permeability Test in the Field by Pumping from Wells

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