Permeability

Permeability is defined as the property of soil which allow the spepage of fluid
through is inter connected void space. Any given soil mass consist of void particle of
various size with interconnected void spaces. The contentious of void space in a soil
mass allow the follow of water fluid from a point of higher energy to lower energy.

Bernoulli’s Equation: From fluid mechanics, we know that, according to Bernoulli’s equation, the total head
at a point in water under motion can be given by the sum of the pressure, velocity, and elevation heads, or

g =acceleration due to gravity

v=velocity
u =pressure
where h total head
 Permeability
Why Important ???
1. Determination of rate of settlement os a saturated
compressible soil layer
2. Calculation of seepage through the body of earth dams and
stability of slopes
3. Calculation of uplift pressure under hydraulic structure
and their safety against piping.
4. Ground water flow towards wells and drainage of soil
 Permeability
If Bernoulli’s equation is applied to the flow of water through a porous
soil medium, the term containing the velocity head can be neglected
because the seepage velocity is small, and the total head at any point
can be adequately represented by

The pressure head at a point is the height of the vertical column of

water in the piezometer installed at that point. The loss of head
between two points, A and B, can be given by

The head loss, h, can be expressed in a non dimensional form as

where i =hydraulic gradient

L =distance between points A and B—that is, the length of flow over which the loss of head occurred
 Permeability

Figure : Nature of variation of v with hydraulic gradient, i

When the hydraulic gradient is increased gradually, the flow remains laminar in
Zones I and II, and the velocity, v, bears a linear relationship to the hydraulic
gradient. At a higher hydraulic gradient, the flow becomes turbulent (Zone III).
When the hydraulic gradient is decreased, laminar flow conditions exist only in
Zone I.
 Permeability
Darcy’s Law: In 1856, Darcy published a simple equation for the discharge
velocity of water through saturated soils, which may be expressed as

vαi

where v = discharge velocity, which is the quantity of water flowing in unit

time

This equation was based primarily on Darcy’s observations about the

flow of water through clean sands.

Equation is valid for laminar flow conditions and applicable for a wide
range of soils.
 Permeability & Seepage
The factor effecting the value of k:-
•Shape & size of soil particle.
•Void ratio.
•Degree of saturation.
•roughness of mineral particles
•Compaction of soil particle .
•Soil structure. ( more in Flocculated structure
than dispersed structure)
•Density & concentration of fluid.
Permeability & Seepage

Typical Values of Hydraulic Conductivity of Saturated Soils

 Permeability & Seepage
Determination of k value:-
1. Laboratory method-
• Constant head test.
• Variable head test.
• Indirect determination from consolidation test.
• Direct determination from consolidation test

2. Field method-
• Pumping from wells.
i. Gravity
ii. Artesian
• Bore hole test-
i. Open end test
ii. Packer test.
• Pezometer observation wells using variable head technique.
 Permeability & Seepage
Determination of k value:-
3. Indirect method: The coefficient permeability can determined
indirectly from soil parameters

• computation from particle size or its surface area

• computation from consolidation

4. Capailarity permeability test.: The coefficient of permeability

of an unsaturated soil can be determined by capillarity – permeability test
 Permeability
Relationship between the discharge velocity and the seepage velocity

Figure shows a soil of length L with a gross cross-sectional area A. If the quantity of
water flowing through the soil in unit time is q, then

where vs =seepage velocity Av =area of void in the cross section of the specimen
 Permeability
However,

where As =area of soil solids in the cross section of the specimen

Combining two equations

Vs = volume of soil solids in the specimen

Vv =volume of voids in the specimen

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Constant-Head Test: In this type of laboratory setup, the water supply at
the inlet is adjusted in such a way that the difference of head between
the inlet and the outlet remains constant during the test period. After a
constant flow rate is established, water is collected in a graduated flask
for a known duration.

The total volume of water collected may be expressed as

where Q =volume of water collected

A =area of cross section of the soil specimen
t =duration of water collection

where L =length of the specimen

 Permeability
A constant-head permeability test gives these values:
L = 30 cm
• A area of the specimen =177 cm2
• Constant-head difference, h =50 cm
• Water collected in a period of 5 min = 350 cm3

Calculate the hydraulic conductivity in cm/sec.

 Permeability
Falling-Head Test: A typical arrangement of the falling-head permeability
test is shown in figure. Water from a standpipe flows through the soil.
The initial head difference h1 at time t =0 is recorded, and water is
allowed to flow through the soil specimen such that the final head
difference at time t =t2 is h2.
The rate of flow of the water through the
specimen at any time t can be given by

where q = flow rate

a =cross-sectional area of the standpipe
A =cross-sectional area of the soil specimen

Integration of the left side with limits of time from 0 to t and

the right side with limits of head difference from h1 to h2
gives
 Permeability
For a falling-head permeability test, the following values are given

• Length of specimen = 8 in.

• Area of soil specimen = 1.6 in2
• Area of standpipe =0.06 in2
• Head difference at time t =0 =20 in.
• Head difference at time t =180 sec = 12 in.

Determine the hydraulic conductivity of the soil in in/sec

 Permeability
The hydraulic conductivity of a clayey soil is 3 x 10-7 cm/sec. The viscosity of
water at 25°C is 0.0911x 10-4 g .sec/cm2. Calculate the absolute permeability K of
the soil
 Permeability
Find the flow rate in m3/sec/m length (at right angles to the cross section shown)
through the permeable soil layer shown in figure given H =8 m, H 1= 3 m, h =4
m, L =50 m, α =80, and k = 0.08 cm/sec.
 Permeability
Relationships for Hydraulic Conductivity—Granular Soil

For fairly uniform sand (that is, sand with a small uniformity coefficient), Hazen
(1930) proposed an empirical relationship for hydraulic conductivity in the form

where c = a constant that varies from 1.0 to 1.5

D10 =the effective size, in mm

Another form of equation that gives fairly good results in estimating the hydraulic
conductivity of sandy soils is based on the Kozeny-Carman equation (Kozeny, 1927;
Carman, 1938, 1956). According to the Kozeny-Carman equation
 Permeability
Carrier (2003) further suggested a slight modification Equation, which
can be written as

More recently, Chapuis (2004) proposed an empirical relationship for k as

Kenney, Lau, and Ofoegbu (1984) conducted laboratory tests on granular soils in
which the particle sizes in various specimens ranged from 0.074 to 25.4 mm. The
uniformity coefficients, Cu, of these specimens ranged from 1.04 to 12. All
permeability tests were conducted at a relative density of 80% or more. These tests
showed that for laminar flow conditions,
 Permeability

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.
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Relationships for Hydraulic Conductivity—Cohesive Soils

Taylor (1948) proposed a linear relationship between the logarithm of k and

the void ratio as

where ko =in situ hydraulic conductivity at a void ratio e o

k =hydraulic conductivity at a void ratio e
Ck =hydraulic conductivity change index
The preceding equation is a good correlation for eo less than about 2.5. In
this equation, the value of Ck may be taken to be about 0.5eo.
 Permeability
Samarasinghe, et al. (1982) conducted laboratory tests on New Liskeard clay and
proposed that, for normally consolidated clays,

where C and n are constants to be determined experimentally

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Tavenas, et al. (1983) also gave a correlation between the void ratio and the
hydraulic conductivity of clayey soil. This correlation is shown in Figure 7.13. An
important point to note, however, is that in Figure, PI, the plasticity index, and
CF, the clay-size fraction in the soil, are in fraction (decimal) form.