Permeability

Permeability
• A material is permeable if it contains continuous
voids. All materials such as rocks, concrete,
soils etc. are permeable.

• The permeability of soils has a decisive effect

on the stability of foundations, seepage loss
through embankments of reservoirs, drainage of
subgrades, excavation of open cuts in water
bearing sand, rate of flow of water into wells
and many others
 Subsurface Water
• This is water found beneath the Earth’s surface
• The main source of subsurface water is rainfall,
which percolates downwards to fill up the voids
and interstices
• Water can penetrate to a considerable depth,
estimated to be as much as 12 000 metres
• Below this level water can not exist in a free state,
although it is often found in chemical
combination with the rock minerals.
 Saturation zone
• Subsurface can be split in to 2 distinct zones:
• Saturation zone: Is the depth throughout which
all the fissure, void spaces, etc are filled with
water under hydrostatic pressure. The upper
level of this water is known as the water table,
phreatic surface or ground water level, and water
within this zone is called phreatic water or
ground water
• Aeration zone:Sometimes referred to as the
vadose zone, this zone occurs between the water
table and the surface, and can be split into three
sections
Subsurface Water
• Capillary fringe: Owing to capillarity, water is drawn up
above the water table into the interstices of the soil or rock.
Water in this fringe can be regarded as being in a state of
negative pressure, i.e. at pressure values below atmospheric
• Intermediate Belt: As rainwater percolates downward to the
water table, a certain amount is held in the soil by the action
of surface tension, capillarity, abdsorption and chemical
action. The water retained in this manner is termed held
water and is deep enough not to be affected by plants.
• Soil Belt: This zone is constantly affected by precipitation,
evaporation and plant transpiration. Moist soil in contact
with the atmosphere either evaporates water or condenses
water into itself until its vapour pressure is equal to
atmospheric pressure
 Flow of water through soils
• The voids of a soil (and of most rocks) are connected together
and form continuous passageways for the movement of water
brought about by rainfall infiltration, transpiration of plants,
unbalance of chemical energy, variation of intensity of
dissolved salts, etc.
• When rainfall falls on the soil surface, some of the water
infiltrates the surface and percolates downward through the
soil. This downward flow results from a gravitational force
acting on the water.
• During flow,some of the water is held in the voids in the
aeration zone and the remainder reaches the groundwater table
and the saturation zone. In the aeration zone, flow is said to be
unsaturated. Below the water table, flow is said to be saturated.
 Saturated low
• The water within the voids of a soil is under
pressure.
• This water, known as pore water, may be static or
• flowing.
• Water in saturated soil will flow in response to
variations in hydrostatic head within the soil
mass.
• These variations may be natural or induced by
excavation or construction.
 Hydraulic or hydrostatic head
• The head of water acting at a point in a
submerged soil mass is known as the hydrostatic
head and is expressed by Bernoulli’s equation:

• In seepage problems atmospheric pressure is taken as

zero and the velocity is so small that the velocity head
becomes negligible; the hydrostatic head is therefore
taken as:
 Excess hydrostatic head
• Water flows from points of high to points of low
head. Hence flow will occur between two points if
the hydrostatic head at one is less than the
hydrostatic head at the other, and in flowing between
the points
• The water experiences a head loss equal to the
difference in head between them. This difference is
known as the excess hydrostatic head.
 Seepage velocity
• The conduits of a soil are irregular and of small diameter
– an average value of the diameter is D10/5.
• Any flow quantities calculated by the theory of pipe flow
must be in error and it is necessary to think in terms of
an average velocity through a given area of soil rather
than specific velocities through particular conduits.
• If Q is the quantity of flow passing through an area A in
time t, then the average velocity (v) is:

• This average velocity is sometimes referred to as the

seepage velocity
 Darcy’s law of saturated low
• In 1856, Darcy showed experimentally that a
fluid’s velocity of flow through a porous medium
was directly related to the hydraulic gradient
causing the flow, i.e
 Water flow through soil

h

Soil Sample

L

Darcy found that the flow (volume per unit time) was
• proportional to the head difference Dh

• proportional to the cross-sectional area A

• inversely proportional to the length of sample DL

 Darcy’s Law

Dh
Thus Q = kA (2a)
DL
where k is the coefficient of permeability or hydraulic
conductivity.
 Darcy’s Law

Dh
Thus Q = kA (2a)
DL
where k is the coefficient of permeability or hydraulic
conductivity.

Equation (2a) may be written as

Q  k Ai
 Darcy’s Law

Dh
Thus Q = kA (2a)
DL
where k is the coefficient of permeability or hydraulic
conductivity.

Equation (2a) may be written as

Q  k Ai

or v=ki (2b)

where i = Dh/DL the hydraulic gradient

v = Q/A the Darcy or superficial velocity
 Measurement of permeability
inlet
constant head
device
load

H
Manometers
outlet

device for flow sample L

measurement
porous disk

Fig. 4 Constant Head Permeameter

 Constant head permeameter
The volume discharge X during a suitable time interval T
is collected.
The difference in head H over a length L is measured by
means of manometers.
Knowing the cross-sectional area A, Darcy’s law gives
X H
 kA
T L
 Constant head permeameter
The volume discharge X during a suitable time interval T
is collected.
The difference in head H over a length L is measured by
means of manometers.
Knowing the cross-sectional area A, Darcy’s law gives
X H
 kA
T L

It can be seen that in a constant head permeameter::

XL
k 
AHT

(3)
 Coefficient of permeability, k
• In soils we are generally concerned with water flow: the
constant C is determined from tests in which the
permeant is water.
• The particular value of the constant C obtained from
these tests is known as the coefficient of permeability
and is given the symbol k.
• It is important to realise that when a soil is said to have
a certain coefficient of permeability, this value only
applies to water (at 20°C).
• If heavy oil is used as the permeant, the value of C
would be considerably less than k.
 Coefficient of permeability, k
• Provided that the hydraulic gradient is less than
1.0, as is the case in most seepage problems, the
flow of water through a soil is linear and
Darcy’s law applies, i.e.
 Determination of permeability in
the laboratory
The constant head permeameter: (in BS 1377: Part 5)
• Water flows through the soil under a head which is kept
constant by means of the overflow arrangement.
• The head loss, h, between two points along the length of
the sample, distance l apart, is measured by means of a
manometer (in practice there are more than just two
manometer tappings).
constant head permeameter
 The falling head permeameter
• This is suitable for silts and some clays, the flow
of water through the sample is measured at the
inlet. The height, h, in the standpipe is measured
and the valve is then opened as a stop clock is
started. After a measured time, t, the height to
which the water level has fallen, h , is determined.
• k is given by the formula:
• During the test, the water in the stand-pipe falls from a
height h1 to a final height h
• Let h be the height at some time, t.
• Consider a small time interval, dt, and let the change in
the level of h during this time be -dh (negative as it is a
drop in elevation).
• The quantity of flow through the sample in time dt = adh
and is given the symbol dQ. Now
 Typical permeability values

10-1 10-2 10-3 10-4 10-5 10-6 10-7 10-8 10-9 10-10 10-11 10-12

Gravels Sands Silts Homogeneous Clays

Fissured & Weathered Clays

Typical Permeability Ranges (metres/second)

Soils exhibit a wide range of permeabilities and while particle

size may vary by about 3-4 orders of magnitude permeability
may vary by about 10 orders of magnitude.
 Flow of water through soil

There are 2 main issues

• Quantity of water flowing

• Pore water pressures

Flow through a Dam

Unsaturated
Soil

Flow of water
Soil behaviour is governed by Effective Stress

 xx   xx  u w ;  yz   yz
 yy   yy  u w ;  zx   zx
 zz   zz  u w ;  xy   xy

When water flows pore water pressures change.

This can be important when considering stability of retaining

walls, earth dams, and other soil constructions
Definition of Head at a Point
u w ( P)
h ( P)   z( P ) (1)
w

Note
z(P)
z is measured vertically up
from the datum

Datum
 Example: Static water table
1. Calculation of head at P

Choose datum at the top of the impermeable

layer

2m
1m X
5m
P
1m
Impermeable stratum
 Example: Static water table
1. Calculation of head at P

Choose datum at the top of the impermeable

layer

2m u w ( P) = 4g w
1m X
5m
P
1m
Impermeable stratum
 Example: Static water table
1. Calculation of head at P

Choose datum at the top of the impermeable

layer

2m u w ( P) = 4g w
1m X z( P ) = 1
5m
P
1m
Impermeable stratum
 Example: Static water table
1. Calculation of head at P

Choose datum at the top of the impermeable

layer

2m u w ( P) = 4g w
1m X z( P ) = 1
5 m thus
P 4g w
1m
h( P) = + 1 = 5m
Impermeable stratum gw
 Example: Static water table
2. Calculation of head at X

Choose datum at the top of the impermeable

layer

u w ( X) = gw
2m
1m X
5m
P
1m
Impermeable stratum
 Example: Static water table
2. Calculation of head at X

Choose datum at the top of the impermeable

layer

u w ( X) = gw
2m
1m X z ( X) = 4
5m
P
1m
Impermeable stratum
 Example: Static water table
2. Calculation of head at X

Choose datum at the top of the impermeable

layer

u w ( X) = gw
2m
1m X z ( X) = 4
5 m thus
P gw
1m h ( X) = + 4 = 5m
Impermeable stratum gw
 Example: Static water table
2. Calculation of head at X

Choose datum at the top of the impermeable

layer

u w ( X) = gw
2m
1m X z ( X) = 4
5 m thus
P gw
1m h ( X) = + 4 = 5m
Impermeable stratum gw

The heads at P and X are identical does this imply that the head
is constant throughout the region below a static water table?
 Example: Static water table
3. Calculation of head at P

Choose datum at the water table

2m
1m X
5m
P
1m
Impermeable stratum
 Example: Static water table
3. Calculation of head at P

Choose datum at the water table

2m u w ( P) = 4g w
1m X
5m
P
1m
Impermeable stratum
 Example: Static water table
3. Calculation of head at P

Choose datum at the water table

2m u w ( P) = 4g w
1m X z( P) = -4
5m
P
1m
Impermeable stratum
 Example: Static water table
3. Calculation of head at P

Choose datum at the water table

2m u w ( P) = 4g w
1m X z( P) = -4
5m thus
P
1m 4g w
Impermeable stratum h( P) = - 4 = 0m
gw
 Example: Static water table
4. Calculation of head at X

Choose datum at the water table

2m u w ( X) = 1g w
1m X
5m
P
1m
Impermeable stratum
 Example: Static water table
4. Calculation of head at X

Choose datum at the water table

2m u w ( X) = 1g w
1m X z( X) = -1
5m
P
1m
Impermeable stratum
 Example: Static water table
4. Calculation of head at X

Choose datum at the water table

2m u w ( X) = 1g w
1m X z( X) = -1
5m thus
P
1m gw
Impermeable stratum
h ( X) = - 1 = 0m
gw
 Example: Static water table
4. Calculation of head at X

Choose datum at the water table

2m u w ( X) = 1g w
1m X z( X) = -1
5m thus
P
1m gw
Impermeable stratum
h ( X) = - 1 = 0m
gw

Again, the head at P and X is identical, but the value is different

 Head
• The value of the head depends on the choice of datum
 Head
• The value of the head depends on the choice of datum
• Differences in head are required for flow (not pressure)
 Head
• The value of the head depends on the choice of datum
• Differences in head are required for flow (not pressure)

2m It can be helpful to consider

imaginary standpipes
1m X
placed in the soil at the
5m points where the head is
P
1m required
Impermeable stratum
 Head
• The value of the head depends on the choice of datum
• Differences in head are required for flow (not pressure)

2m It can be helpful to consider

imaginary standpipes
1m X
placed in the soil at the
5m points where the head is
P
1m required
Impermeable stratum

The head is the elevation of the water level in the

standpipe above the datum
 Definition of Hydraulic Gradients

For horizontal flow v=vx

z
and k=kH and thus

A vx  k Hix
where
z
h ( C )  h ( B)
B C ix  (5a)
x
x and thus
O x h
vx  k H
x
 Definition of Hydraulic Gradients

For vertical flow v=vz

z
and k=kV and thus

A vz  k V i z

z where

B C iz 
h(A)  h(B)
x z

O x and thus (5b)

h
vz  k V
z
 Plane Flow under a Dam
Cross section of a long dam
(flow in the y direction is negligible)

Dam

Soil
Flow
x

Impermeable bedrock
 vz Flow into
a soil element
C

vx D Soil B z
Element
A
x

Net flow =(vx(B)-vx(D))yz+(vz(C)-vz(A)) xy (6a)

For steady state seepage the net flow in will be

zero, thus

vx vz
 0
x z (6b)
 vz Flow into
a soil element
C

vx D Soil B z
Element
A
x

Net flow =(vx(B)-vx(D))yz+(vz(C)-vz(A)) xy (6a)

For steady state seepage the net flow in will be

zero, thus

vx vz
 0
x z (6b)
 Continuity Equation
v x v z
Continuity Equation   0 (6b)
x z
 Continuity Equation
v x v z
Continuity Equation   0 (6b)
x z

+ Darcy's Law
+
h
vx  k H
x
Darcy’s Law h (5)
vz  k V
z
 Continuity Equation
v x v z
Continuity Equation   0 (6b)
x z

+ Darcy's Law
+
h
vx  k H
x
Darcy’s Law h (5)
vz  k V
z

 h  h
Flow equation ( k H )  ( k V )  0 (7b)
x x z z
  h  h
Flow equation (k H )  (k V )  0 (7b)
x x z z
  h  h
Flow equation (k H )  (k V )  0 (7b)
x x z z

2 2
 h  h
For a homogeneous soil kH 2  kV 2  0 (7c)
x z
  h  h
Flow equation (k H )  (k V )  0 (7b)
x x z z

2 2
 h  h
For a homogeneous soil kH 2  kV 2  0 (7c)
x z

2 2
 h  h
For an isotropic soil
2
 2 0 (7d)
x z