A flexible wall permeameter for measurements of water and air coefficients of permeability of residual soils

2003 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agus Setianto Samingan ◽  
Eng-Choon Leong ◽  
Harianto Rahardjo

This paper describes the development of a flexible wall permeameter apparatus for measuring the water and air coefficients of permeability of residual soils. Water and air coefficients of permeability were obtained for both the drying and wetting cycles for residual soils using the flexible wall permeameter. Volume changes of the soil specimens during unsaturated consolidation and during the water and air permeability measurements were also monitored. Factors that influence the measurements, such as hydraulic and pneumatic gradients and temperature fluctuations are described and discussed in this paper. The developed flexible wall permeameter was found to be capable of measuring water and air coefficients of permeability as low as 10–12 m/s.Key words: flexible wall permeameter, permeability, residual soils, unsaturated soils, matric suction, flow rate.


Author(s):  
Xiaoming Chen ◽  
Yuchuan Zhu ◽  
Travis Wiens ◽  
Doug Bitner ◽  
Minghao Tai ◽  
...  

The inertance hydraulic converter relies on fluid inertance to modulate flow or pressure and is considered to be a competitive alternative to the conventional proportional hydraulic system due to its potential advantage in efficiency. As the quantification of fluid inertance, the suction flow characteristic is the crucial performance indicator for efficiency improvement. To explore the discrepancy between the passive inertance hydraulic converter featured by the check valve and the active inertance hydraulic converter driven by an equivalent 2/3 way fast switching valve in regard to suction flow characteristics, analytical models of the inertance hydraulic converters were established in MATLAB/Simulink. The validated models of the respective suction components were incorporated in the overall analytical models and their suction flow characteristics were theoretically and experimentally discussed. The analytical predictions and experimental measurements for the current configurations indicated that the active inertance hydraulic converter yields a larger transient suction flow rate than that of the passive inertance hydraulic converter due to the difference of the respective suction components. The suction flow characteristic can be modulated using the supply pressure and duty cycle, which was confirmed by experimental measurements. In addition, the suction flow characteristics are heavily affected by the resistance of the suction flow passage and switching frequency. There is a compromise between the resistance and switching frequency for inertance hydraulic converters to achieve large suction flow rate.



2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Miyamoto ◽  
Zu Soh ◽  
Shigeyuki Okahara ◽  
Akira Furui ◽  
Taiichi Takasaki ◽  
...  

AbstractThe need for the estimation of the number of microbubbles (MBs) in cardiopulmonary bypass surgery has been recognized among surgeons to avoid postoperative neurological complications. MBs that exceed the diameter of human capillaries may cause endothelial disruption as well as microvascular obstructions that block posterior capillary blood flow. In this paper, we analyzed the relationship between the number of microbubbles generated and four circulation factors, i.e., intraoperative suction flow rate, venous reservoir level, continuous blood viscosity and perfusion flow rate in cardiopulmonary bypass, and proposed a neural-networked model to estimate the number of microbubbles with the factors. Model parameters were determined in a machine-learning manner using experimental data with bovine blood as the perfusate. The estimation accuracy of the model, assessed by tenfold cross-validation, demonstrated that the number of MBs can be estimated with a determinant coefficient R2 = 0.9328 (p < 0.001). A significant increase in the residual error was found when each of four factors was excluded from the contributory variables. The study demonstrated the importance of four circulation factors in the prediction of the number of MBs and its capacity to eliminate potential postsurgical complication risks.



1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daud W Rassam ◽  
David J Williams

A relationship describing the shear-strength profile of a desiccating soil deposit is essential for the purpose of analysis, especially when a numerical method is adopted where each zone in a discretised grid is assigned an elevation-dependent shear-strength value. The matric-suction profile of a desiccating soil deposit is nonlinear. Up to the air-entry value, an increase in matric suction is associated with a linear increase in shear strength. Beyond air entry, as the soil starts to desaturate, a nonlinear increase in shear strength occurs. The soil-water characteristic curve is stress dependent, as is the shear-strength gain as matric suction increases. In this paper, a three-dimensional, nonlinear regression analysis showed that a power-additive function is suitable to describe the variation of the shear strength of unsaturated soils with matric suction. The proposed function incorporates the effect of normal stress on the contribution of matric suction to the shear strength.Key words: air-entry value, matric suction, nonlinear regression, soil-water characteristic curve, tailings, unsaturated shear strength.



2014 ◽  
pp. 1189-1195
Author(s):  
T Ishikawa ◽  
T Tokoro ◽  
D Nakamura ◽  
S Yamashita


Author(s):  
T. Ishikawa ◽  
T. Tokoro ◽  
D. Nakamura ◽  
S. Yamashita


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Qing Yan ◽  
Junhai Zhao ◽  
Changguang Zhang ◽  
Jintai Wang

The reasonable determination of ultimate bearing capacity is crucial to an optimal design of shallow foundations. Soils surrounding shallow foundations are commonly located above the water table and are thus in an unsaturated state. The intermediate principal stress has an improving effect on the unsaturated soil strength. In this study, the ultimate bearing capacity formulation of strip foundations in unsaturated soils is presented by using Terzaghi’s theory. The unified shear strength equation of unsaturated soils under a plane strain condition is utilized to capture the intermediate principal stress effect. Furthermore, two profiles of matric suction are considered and a hyperbolic function of the friction angle related to matric suction (φb) is adopted to describe strength nonlinearity. The validity of this study is demonstrated by comparing it with model tests and a theoretical solution reported in the literature. Finally, parameter studies are conducted to investigate the effects of intermediate principal stress, matric suction, and base roughness on the ultimate bearing capacity of strip foundations. Besides, the effect of strength nonlinearity is discussed with two methods representing the angle φb.



2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trinh Minh Thu ◽  
Harianto Rahardjo ◽  
Eng-Choon Leong

Measurement of the soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) in the laboratory is commonly conducted under zero confining pressure. However, in the field, the soil is under a confining stress. Therefore, it is important to study the effects of the confining stress on SWCC. In addition, the consolidation curve is normally generated under saturated conditions. However, the soil above the water table is usually unsaturated. Hence, it is also necessary to investigate the effects of matric suction on the characteristics of the consolidation curves. This paper presents the SWCCs under different net confining stresses and the isotropic consolidation curves under different matric suctions that describe the volume change characteristics of unsaturated soils with respect to stress state variables, net normal stress, and matric suction. A series of SWCCs was determined for statically compacted silt specimens in a triaxial cell apparatus under different net confining stresses. Isotropic consolidation tests under different matric suctions were also carried out. The results of the SWCC tests show that the air-entry value increased with increasing net confining stress. The yield points (i.e., yield suction, s0) obtained from the SWCC tests also increased with increasing net confining stress. The results of isotropic consolidation tests indicate the strong influence of matric suction on compressibility and stiffness of the compacted silt specimens.Key words: soil-water characteristic curve, isotropic consolidation, pore-water pressure, volume change, NTU mini suction probe, matric suction.



2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 757-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
C W.W Ng ◽  
L T Zhan ◽  
Y J Cui

A new simple system for accurately measuring overall total volume changes in unsaturated soil specimens with a triaxial apparatus is introduced in this paper. The basic principle of the measuring system is to record changes in the differential pressure due to changes in the water level inside an open-ended, bottle-shaped inner cell caused by volume change in the specimen and inside a reference tube using an accurate differential pressure transducer. Several important steps were taken to improve the accuracy and sensitivity of the measuring system. Detailed calibrations were carried out to account for apparent volume changes as a result of changes in cell pressure, fluctuation in the ambient temperatures, creep in the inner cell wall, and relative movement between the loading ram and the inner cell. The calibration results demonstrate that the measuring system is reasonably linear, reversible, and repeatable. The estimated accuracy of the measuring system is in the order of 32 mm3 (or 0.04% volumetric strain for a triaxial specimen 38 mm in diameter and 76 mm in height) once the system is properly calibrated.Key words: unsaturated soils, volume-change measurement, open-ended, bottle-shaped, inner cell, differential pressure, calibration.



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