DETERMINATION OF COEFFICIENT OF PERMEABILITY BY

FALLING HEAD TEST

(Date of Experiment: 25/11/2014)
Object & Scope:
The object of the experiment is to determine the coefficient of permeability of
soil in the laboratory by falling head test.
Materials & Equipments:
(i)
The permeameter complete with all accessories.
(ii) De-aired water
(iii) Balance
(iv) 4.75mm & 2mm IS Sieve
(v) Mixing pan or basin
(vi) Stop watch
(vii) Graduated measuring cylinder
(viii) Metric Scale
(ix) Beaker
(x) Thermometer
(xi) Straight edge or trimming knife.

Stand Pipe area of

c/s is a

Soil Sample area

of c/s is A

Falling Head Permeameter

 Theory:
If the cross sectional area of the sample & the stand pipe be A & a
respectively and h1 & h2 be the head at time interval t1 & t2. Let, h be
the head at any intermediate time interval t & -dh is the change in head in a
smaller time interval dt, hence from Darcys Law, the rate of flow, q is given
by:

q= (-dh.a)/dt = kiA
where, i= hydraulic gradient at time t = h/L
Therefore, (kh/L)A = (-dh/dt)a
Or,( Ak/aL)dt = -dh/h
Integrating between two time limits,
2

1

Or,

= - 1

= 2

(t2-t1) = log e ( )
2

Denoting (t2 t1) as t, we get,

k= 2.303

log10( )
2

Experimental Procedure:
(i)
The soil specimen was prepared in the permeameter & saturated with
water.
(ii) The permeameter mould assembly was kept in the bottom of the tank
& the bottom tank was filled with water upon its outlet.
(iii) The water inlet nozzle was connected to the stand pipe filled with
water. Water was permitted to flow for some time till steady state of
flow is reached.
(iv) With the help of a stopwatch, the time interval required for the water
level in the stand pipe to drop from some initial head to some final
head was noted.
(v) The step (iv) was repeated 5 times with different initial & final head.

Observations & Results:

Weight of the sample = 1.750 Kg
Height of datum level= 530mm
Height of Sample = 120mm
Dia of sample = 100mm
Dia of stand pipe = 20mm

Sl No. Initial head (cm)

1
80
2
75
3
70
4
65
5
59
Sample Calculation:

Final head (cm)

25
20
15
10
4

Time interval (sec)

38.21
39.83
41.22
41.64
43.67

For Observation 1: C/s area of stand pipe (a)= d/4= x20/4= 314.16 mm
C/s area of sample (A)= D/4 = x100/4= 7853.98 mm
Length of soil sample= L= 120mm
Time interval= t= 38.21 sec
Height of datum level= M= 530mm
Initial head= 80cm Effective initial head= h1= 530+800= 1330mm
Final head= 25cm Effective final head= h2= 530+250= 780mm
Hence from equation, k= 2.303
We get, k= 2.303x

314.16120

7853.9838.21

log10( )
2

1330

log10 (

780

) = 0.0670 mm/sec = 5.793 m/day.

In the same manner, the coefficient of permeability was calculated for each
observation & tabulated as below.

Sl No. Effective Initial

head(h1)

1
2
3
4
5

(mm)
1330
1280
1230
1180
1120

Effective Final
head (h2)

Time interval (t)

(mm)
780
730
680
630
570

(Sec)
38.21
39.83
41.22
41.64
43.67

Co efficient of
Permeability
(k)
(m/day)
5.793
5.848
5.964
6.251
6.415

Hence, the average value of permeability is = arithmetic mean of 5 observations

6.054 m/day.

Discussion & Conclusion:

We have found that the value of permeability of the given sand sample is 6.054
m/day which is a moderately high value. One reason of obtaining such a high
value of permeability may be that we have not tamped the sample properly
before testing &hence the soil was mostly in loose state & not in compacted
state. This sand may be used for construction of Sand Drains where sand with
high permeability (K>5m/day) is required to expedite the consolidation process.

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