SUB: GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING MODULE-44A

MODULE- 44A
Permeability & Seepage
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Permeability: The property of a soil which permits flow of water through it is called
permeability.
Seepage: Seepage is the flow of water under gravitational forces in a permeable medium.

The energy of water can be expressed as total head of water as datum head, ”z”, Pressure
head and velocity head . The sum of these heads represents total energy. The velocity

head is very small in soils and can be neglected. The sum of datum head z and Pressure
head is called Piezometric head. If there are no losses while flowing through soil, the total
head should be same everywhere. But due to friction some losses will be there. Due to this
there will be head difference between entry and exit points of soil which is called hydraulic
head or effective head. The loss is uniform in throughout the length of soil. The hydraulic
head divided by length of soil is called hydraulic gradient. So the head loss per unit length of
soil is called hydraulic gradient and is represented by “i”.

Darcy’s law: For laminar flow in homogeneous soil

where is called permeability co-efficient

Let A be the c/s area normal to the flow then q = A.
q=A i= iA
Constant head permeability test: Let „L‟ be the length of soil, „h‟ be the head loss, ‟q‟ be
the discharge and A be the c/s area of soil.

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Variable head Permeability test: Let water level will come down from h1 to h2 in time „t‟.
Assume at some instant of time head is „h‟ and consider the head decreases in time.
As the area of stand pipe is „a‟ and that of soil is A.

From continuity of flow =

is volume of water, –ve sign because h is decreasing, q is volume/time and
becomes volume of water.
=-

Integrating ∫ ∫

Therefore

Seepage Velocity: In discharge formula the area is entire c/s area. But water flows
only through voids, hence seepage velocity is more than discharge velocity.

= where

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But

Where is co-efficient of percolation.

General expression for co-efficient of permeability k

D – Particle size
e-void ratio
velocity

In this expression, is fluid property

is soil property.

If taken to left side

Where K is called absolute permeability. It does not depend on water property, depends only
on soil property.
Unconfined aquifer:

slope of hydraulic gradient line

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∫ ∫

Confined Aquifer:

∫ ∫

Permeability of stratified soil deposits:

1. Flow parallel to planes of stratification:

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2. Flow normal to the plane of stratification:

=

Substituting

[ ]

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Laplace Equation:

( ) ( )

Let

( ) ( )

For isotropic soil ∴ =0

Let

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Therefore

Stream function Stream function is a scalar function of the co-ordinates x and z

such that its derivations satisfy the following equations.

Flow Net:

Equipotential lines: The lines connecting points of equal total head are called equi-
potential lines.

Flow Lines: The path taken by a water particle is called flow lines.

The flow lines and equipotential lines together form a flow Net.
The flow lines and equipotential lines intersect at right angles.

Let
be the head loss per drop.
be the distance between flow lines, and
be the distance between equi-potential lines.
.
Here

=1

The ration is shape factor of flow net. It is independent of permeability . It

depends only on the configuration or shape of the soil mass.

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Total head at point P, , where n is the number of potential drops up

to P

Flow Net for Anisotropic Soil:

We know that

If we assume √

∴It becomes

The flow net for anisotropic soil can be drawn by reducing the x-scale by the ratio

√ . Then the flow net for the actual section is obtained by transferring back the flow

net to the natural section by increasing the x- scale in the ratio √

Flow Net in a Non-homogeneous Soil:

If be the angle which the flow line make with normal in soil-1 and be the angle
in soil-2.

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