Avila, Ken U.

Submitted on 15 May 2020

BSCE – 4

Infiltration Models
Horton’s Model
Value of fc in a test is obtained from inspection of the data. (f p-fc) = (f0-fc)e-Kt
Taking logarithms ln ( fp- fc¿ = ln(f0-fc)e-Kt
Plot ln ( fp- fc¿ against t and fir the best straight line through the plotted points. The intercept gives ln(f 0-fc)
and the slope of the straight line is K.

Philip’s Model
Use the expression for fp as
−1
1
f p ( t )= s t 2 + K
2
−1
Plot the observed values of f p against t 2 on an arithmetic graph paper. The best fitting straight line
through the plotted points gives K as the intercept ang (0.5s) as the slope of the line. While fitting Philip’s
model it is necessary to note that K is positive and to achieve this it may be necessary to neglect a few data
points at the initial stages (vis. At small values of t) of the infiltration experiment. K will be of the order
magnitude of the asymptotic value of fp.

Kostiakov’s Model
Kostiakov model relates F p to t as

F p ( t )=a t b

Taking logarithms of both sides

ln F p=ln a+ b ln t

The data is plotted as ln F p vs ln t on an arithmetic graph paper and the best fit straight through the
plotted points gives ln a as intercept and the slope is b. Note that b is a positive quantity such that 0<b<1.

Green – Ampt’s Model

n
Green – Ampt is considered in the form of f p=m+ . Values of fp are plotted against ( F p-1) on a simple
Fp
arithmetic graph paper and the best fit straight line is drawn through the plotted points. The intercept and
the slope of the line are the coefficients m and n respectively. Sometimes values of fp and corresponding
Fp at very low values of t may have to be omitted to get best fitting straight line with reasonably good
correlation coefficient.
Examples:

1. The results of infiltrometer test on a soil are given below. Determine the best values of the
parameters of Horton’s infiltration capacity equation for this soil.

Given:
Time since start (min) 5 10 15 20 30 40 60 80 100
Cumulative Rainfall (mm) 21. 37.7 52.2 65. 78.4 89.5 101.8 112. 123.3
5 8 6

Solution:
Time Time fp
Fp (cm) Incremental Infiltration (cm) (fp-fc) (cm/hr) ln (fp - fc)
(min) (hrs) (cm/hr)
0.000
5.000 0.083 2.150 2.150 25.800 22.590 3.118
10.000 0.167 3.770 1.620 19.440 16.230 2.787
15.000 0.250 5.220 1.450 17.400 14.190 2.653
20.000 0.333 6.580 1.360 16.320 13.110 2.573
30.000 0.500 7.840 1.260 7.560 4.350 1.470
40.000 0.667 8.950 1.110 6.660 3.450 1.238
60.000 1.000 10.180 1.230 3.690 0.480 -0.734
80.000 1.333 11.260 1.080 3.240 0.030
100.000 1.667 12.330 1.070 3.210 0.000
Ln ( fp- fc¿ = -4.1235 t +
3.6393.
Horton's Graph Analysis
Thus, Kh=4.1235 h−1 and,
4.000
fc is 3.6393
3.000 f(x) = − 4.12 x + 3.64
2.000 R² = 0.97
ln (fp - fc)

( fo- fc¿=¿ 38.065 cm/h.

1.000
0.000 Since fc = 3.6393 therefore;
-1.000
0.000 0.200 0.400 0.600 0.800 1.000 1.200 1.400 1.600 1.800
fo = 41.275 cm/hr
Time (hrs)
 2. Results of an infiltrometer test on a soil are as follows:

Time from start (mins) 5 10 15 20 30 40 60 120 150

Cumulative Infiltration (mm) 1.0 1.8 2.50 3.1 4.2 5.10 6.6 11.0 12.90
0 0 0 0 0 0

Determine the parameters of:

I. Kostiakov’s Equation
II. Green – Ampt’s Equation
III. Philip’s Equation

Solution:

Time Time Fp (mm) Fp Incremental fp Ln Fp Ln t t(-0.5) 1/Fp

(mins
Given: (hrs) (cm) depth
I.) Kostiakov’s Equation
0 0.000
F p ( t )=a t b
5 0.083 9.80 1.00 1.00 12.00 0.00 -2.485 3.46 1.000
ln F p=lna+ b ln t 0 4
II.
10 Green – Ampt’s
0.167 18.00 Equation
1.80 0.80 9.60 0.58 -1.792 2.44 0.556
n 8 9
f p=m+
15 F p0.250 25.00 2.50 0.70 8.40 0.91 -1.386 2.00 0.400
III. Philip’s Equation 6 0
20 1 0.333
−1 38.00 3.10 0.60 7.20 1.13 -1.099 1.73 0.323
2
f p ( t )= s t + K 1 2
2
30 0.500 55.00 4.20 1.10 6.60 1.43 -0.693 1.41 0.238
5 4
40 0.667 76.00 5.10 0.90 5.40 1.62 -0.405 1.22 0.196
9 5
60 1.000 94.00 6.60 1.50 Kostiakov’s
4.50 1.88 Equation
0.000 1.00 0.152
7 F p ( t )=a t b 0
120 2.000 110.00 11.00 4.40 4.40 2.39 ln 0.693
F p=lna+ 0.70b ln t 0.091
8
ln F p=ln1.907+ 7
0.7393 lnt
150 2.500 137.00 12.90 1.90 3.80 2.55 0.916 0.63 0.078
Ln a =71.907, a = 6.733 2 b = 0.7393
Therefore;

Kostiakov's Graph Analysis F p ( t )=6.733 t 0.7393

3.000
2.500
f(x) = 0.74 x + 1.91
 Philip's Graph Analysis Philip’s Equation
−1
1
14.000 f p ( t )= s t 2 + K
12.000 2
f(x) = 2.97 x + 2.05
10.000 R² = 0.98 Therefore;
8.000
f p ( t )=2.9735 t −0.5 +2.0461
fp

6.000
4.000 Coefficient s and K are:
2.000
0.000 s = 2 x 2.9735 = 5.9470
0.000 0.500 1.000 1.500 2.000 2.500 3.000 3.500 4.000
t(-0.5) K = 2.0461