A column study of static nonequilibrium fluid pressures in sand during prolonged drainage

1994 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Lee Barbour ◽  
Ernest K. Yanful

In the design of layered soil systems, such as the design of liners or covers over unsaturated soil, a key design concern is the magnitude of negative fluid pressure that will develop along the base of the liner or cover. In the absence of evaporation or vapour migration, the maximum negative fluid pressures will develop near the cessation of drainage. Previous theoretical analyses and numerical modelling of these systems have indicated that this pressure will be the pressure at which an underlying sand reaches its residual water content. The hydraulic conductivity of the sand at these pressures is so small that "static" nonequilibrium pressures are sustained over long periods of time. In this note, laboratory verification is provided for the magnitude of these pressures based on drainage of a fine and coarse sand column. Key words : covers, liners, air-entry value, residual saturation, layering, drainage.

Soil Research ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Reza Neyshabouri ◽  
Mehdi Rahmati ◽  
Claude Doussan ◽  
Boshra Behroozinezhad

Unsaturated soil hydraulic conductivity K is a fundamental transfer property of soil but its measurement is costly, difficult, and time-consuming due to its large variations with water content (θ) or matric potential (h). Recently, C. Doussan and S. Ruy proposed a method/model using measurements of the electrical conductivity of soil core samples to predict K(h). This method requires the measurement or the setting of a range of matric potentials h in the core samples—a possible lengthy process requiring specialised devices. To avoid h estimation, we propose to simplify that method by introducing the particle-size distribution (PSD) of the soil as a proxy for soil pore diameters and matric potentials, with the Arya and Paris (AP) model. Tests of this simplified model (SM) with laboratory data on a broad range of soils and using the AP model with available, previously defined parameters showed that the accuracy was lower for the SM than for the original model (DR) in predicting K (RMSE of logK = 1.10 for SM v. 0.30 for DR; K in m s–1). However, accuracy was increased for SM when considering coarse- and medium-textured soils only (RMSE of logK = 0.61 for SM v. 0.26 for DR). Further tests with 51 soils from the UNSODA database and our own measurements, with estimated electrical properties, confirmed good agreement of the SM for coarse–medium-textured soils (<35–40% clay). For these textures, the SM also performed well compared with the van Genuchten–Mualem model. Error analysis of SM results and fitting of the AP parameter showed that most of the error for fine-textured soils came from poorer adequacy of the AP model’s previously defined parameters for defining the water retention curve, whereas this was much less so for coarse-textured soils. The SM, using readily accessible soil data, could be a relatively straightforward way to estimate, in situ or in the laboratory, K(h) for coarse–medium-textured soils. This requires, however, a prior check of the predictive efficacy of the AP model for the specific soil investigated, in particular for fine-textured/structured soils and when using previously defined AP parameters.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1662
Author(s):  
Gabriel Lipkowitz ◽  
Karoline Sofie Hennum ◽  
Eleonora Piva ◽  
Eleanor Schofield

If left to dry uncontrollably following excavation, marine archaeological wood suffers significant and irreparable damage. Conservation treatments are required to consolidate degraded wood and to remove residual water. Drying must be controlled to eliminate erratic and heterogeneous water removal. Monitoring and understanding the drying process progression is invaluable information to garner real-time knowledge to correlate with chemical and physical material properties, and to develop future conservation strategies. Here, polyethylene glycol (PEG) consolidated marine archaeological wood was periodically sampled during drying to determine the moisture content as a function of location, time, and sample depth. The heterogeneous nature of the material leads to significant noise across spatial and temporal measurements, making it challenging to elucidate meaningful conclusions from visual observation of the raw data. Therefore, the spatiotemporal data was computationally analysed to produce a representative model of the ship’s drying, illustrated by a dynamic simulation. From this we can quantitatively predict the drying rate, determine the depth-dependence of drying, and estimate the resulting equilibrium moisture content. This is the first time such simulations have been carried out on this material and conservation process, demonstrating the power of applying numerical modelling to further our understanding of complex heritage data.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 170051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zamir Libohova ◽  
Phil Schoeneberger ◽  
Laura C. Bowling ◽  
Phillip R. Owens ◽  
Doug Wysocki ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Shaoyang Dong ◽  
Yuan Guo ◽  
Xiong (Bill) Yu

Hydraulic conductivity and soil-water retention are two critical soil properties describing the fluid flow in unsaturated soils. Existing experimental procedures tend to be time consuming and labor intensive. This paper describes a heuristic approach that combines a limited number of experimental measurements with a computational model with random finite element to significantly accelerate the process. A microstructure-based model is established to describe unsaturated soils with distribution of phases based on their respective volumetric contents. The model is converted into a finite element model, in which the intrinsic hydraulic properties of each phase (soil particle, water, and air) are applied based on the microscopic structures. The bulk hydraulic properties are then determined based on discharge rate using Darcy’s law. The intrinsic permeability of each phase of soil is first calibrated from soil measured under dry and saturated conditions, which is then used to predict the hydraulic conductivities at different extents of saturation. The results match the experimental data closely. Mualem’s equation is applied to fit the pore size parameter based on the hydraulic conductivity. From these, the soil-water characteristic curve is predicted from van Genuchten’s equation. The simulation results are compared with the experimental results from documented studies, and excellent agreements were observed. Overall, this study provides a new modeling-based approach to predict the hydraulic conductivity function and soil-water characteristic curve of unsaturated soils based on measurement at complete dry or completely saturated conditions. An efficient way to measure these critical unsaturated soil properties will be of benefit in introducing unsaturated soil mechanics into engineering practice.


1985 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 197-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. H. Jørgensen

In two different unsaturated soil columns percolated with artificial rainwater under simulated aerated conditions, transport of coxsackievirus B3 and adenovirus 1 below 3.5 cm under the soil surface could not be demonstrated. The viruses were applied to the columns as seeded sewage sludge. Under saturated conditions transport of water-suspended coxsackievirus B3 was faster in a soil column with sandy loam soil than in a diluvial sand column.


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