scholarly journals Effect of Soil Types on The Development of Matric Suction and Volumetric Water Content for Dike Embankment During Overtopping Tests

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marwan Adil Hassan ◽  
Mohd Ashraf Mohamad Ismail

The resistance of dike materials has a great effect on the development of hydraulic engineering around the world. It helps to understand the mechanism of dike failure occurred due to the influence of hydraulics and Geotechnical parameters. The overtopping moment is one of the main failures that reduces the stability of the dike embankment through initiating the breach channel inside dike crest as a result of water flow above the downstream slope of the dike. Two spatial overtopping tests were conducted at in Hydraulic Geotechnical laboratories at the University Sains of Malaysia to observe the evolution of matric suction and volumetric water content for two soil types of sand and very silty sand soils. A pilot channel was cut in dike crest along the side wall of the small flume channel to represent the transition water flow from upstream into downstream slopes during overtopping test. The results indicated that the matric suction decreases due to the increase of volumetric water content during the saturation of dike body. The proportion increasing and decreasing of volumetric water content and matric suction is lower in very silty sand than those in sand soil due to the presence of fine particles in previous soil.

Author(s):  
Minxia Zhang ◽  
Shulin Chen ◽  
Hong Jiang ◽  
Yong Lin ◽  
Jinmeng Zhang ◽  
...  

Frequent flash droughts can rapidly lead to water shortage, which affects the stability of ecosystems. This study determines the water-use characteristics and physiological mechanisms underlying Moso bamboo response to flash-drought events, and estimates changes to water budgets caused by extreme drought. We analyzed the variability in forest canopy transpiration versus precipitation from 2011–2013. Evapotranspiration reached 730 mm during flash drought years. When the vapor pressure deficit > 2 kPa and evapotranspiration > 4.27 mm·day−1, evapotranspiration was mainly controlled through stomatal opening and closing to reduce water loss. However, water exchange mainly occurred in the upper 0–50 cm of the soil. When soil volumetric water content of 50 cm was lower than 0.17 m3·m−3, physiological dehydration occurred in Moso bamboo to reduce transpiration by defoliation, which leads to water-use efficiency decrease. When mean stand density was <3500 trees·ha−1, the bamboo forest can safely survive the flash drought. Therefore, we recommend thinning Moso bamboo as a management strategy to reduce transpiration in response to future extreme drought events. Additionally, the response function of soil volumetric water content should be used to better simulate evapotranspiration, especially when soil water is limited.


Soil Research ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuang Jiang ◽  
Graeme D. Buchan ◽  
Mike J. Noonan ◽  
Neil Smith ◽  
Liping Pang ◽  
...  

This experiment investigated bacterial transport from land-applied dairy shed effluent (DSE), via field lysimeter studies, using 2 contrasting irrigation methods. Transient water flow and bacterial transport were studied, and the factors controlling faecal coliform (FC) transport are discussed. Two trials (Trial 1, summer; Trial 2, autumn) were carried out, using 6 undisturbed soil monolith lysimeters, 500 mm diameter by 700 mm deep, with a free-draining, Templeton fine sandy loam. DSE with inert chemical tracers was applied at the start of both trials using the same method, followed with repeated 14-day cycles of either flood or spray irrigation of water. A bacterial tracer, antibiotic-resistant faecal coliform, was added to the DSE in Trial 2 only, to distinguish applied FC from external or resident FC. Leachates were collected after each water application (or heavy rainfall when applicable) for enumeration of FC and measurement of tracers. All lysimeters were instrumented for monitoring volumetric water content, matric potential, and soil temperature at 4 depths (100, 250, 450, and 600 mm). The results showed that bacteria could readily penetrate through 700-mm-deep soil columns, when facilitated by water flow. The highest post-water irrigation concentration was 3.4 × 103 cfu/100 mL under flood irrigation, which resulted in more bacterial and Br– leaching than spray irrigation. Trial 2 (autumn) results also showed significant differences between irrigation treatments in lysimeters sharing similar drainage class (moderate or moderately rapid), flood irrigation again gave more bacterial and tracer (Cl–) leaching. In the summer trial, FC in leachate as high as 1.4 × 106 cfu/100 mL, similar to the concentration of DSE, was detected in one lysimeter that had a higher clay content in the topsoil immediately after DSE application, and before any water irrigation. This indicates that applied DSE leached through preferential flow paths without any dilution. Bacterial concentration in the leachate was positively correlated with both volumetric water content and water potential, and sometimes drainage rate. Greater bacterial leaching was found in the lysimeter with rapid whole-column effective hydraulic conductivity, Keff, for both flood and spray treatments. Occasionally, the effect of Keff on water movement and bacterial transport overrode the effect of irrigation. The ‘seasonal condition’ of the soil (including variation in initial water content) also influenced bacterial leaching, with less risk of leaching in autumn than in summer. These findings contribute to our increased understanding of bacterial transport processes on the field scale.


2020 ◽  
Vol 195 ◽  
pp. 03031
Author(s):  
Omar AL-Emami ◽  
Gabriela M Medero ◽  
Fernando A M Marinho ◽  
Melis Sutman

Shear strength of soils is one of the essential parameters for analysing and solving divers geotechnical problems (e.g. the bearing capacity of shallow footings pile foundations, slope stability and earth embankments). In this study, a series of conventional large-scale (300 X 300 mm) direct shear tests were carried out on saturated and constant water content silty sand specimens at ei = 0.6 and 1.0 tested under applied vertical stresses of 100, 200, or 400 kPa to investigate the influence of matric suction on the shear strength characteristics of the tested material. A loading steel cap was modified to allow the direct measurements of the matric suction using two commercial available Equitensiometer suction probes (EQ3). The experimental program indicated that, for both studied void ratios, the obtained shear strength of specimens under constant water content is found to be distinctly greater than those obtained from saturated samples. The results showed that the samples compacted at ei = 1.0 exhibited collapse behaviour during saturation stage, whereas same samples did not show any volume change during stabilisation stage when tested under constant water content condition. The study results also showed that the matric suction reduction during consolidation stage depends on initial void ratio of the tested samples as well as the level of applied vertical stress. Moreover, the matric suction evolution during shearing process of both studied void ratios specimens decreased with increasing the level of applied vertical stress.


HortScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (11) ◽  
pp. 2063-2066
Author(s):  
Philip J. Brown ◽  
Lambert B. McCarty ◽  
Virgil L. Quisenberry ◽  
L. Ray Hubbard ◽  
M. Brad Addy

Drainage is important to golf and athletic facilities trying to avoid lost play time. Native soil containing clay is sometimes incorporated into sand profiles with the intent to increase water and nutrient holding capacities. However, mixes high in silt and/or clay often have drainage problems. Research was conducted on soil physical properties from incremental 10% v/v additions of silt and clay (fines) to a U.S. Golf Association (USGA)-specification sand. Soils were evaluated based on volumetric water retention from 0 to 50 cm matric potential, saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), porosity, and bulk density. The soil water characteristic (SWC) for 100:0 (sand:fines) had lower volumetric water content (θv) throughout the profile than any other mixture. Addition of 10% fines increased θv to more than 0.17 cm3·cm–3 throughout the 0- to 50-cm matric potential range, whereas 20% fines increased θv to more than 0.26 cm3·cm–3. The 70:30 mixture had greater θv throughout the profile than mixtures containing more than 70% sand. Mixtures with less than 70% sand produced similar SWCs. Increasing sand content increased bulk density, which altered saturated volumetric water content. Ksat was reduced from more than 265 cm·h–1 in 100:0 mixtures to 43 cm·h–1 for 90:10 mixtures, and to less than 5 cm·h–1 with ≥20% fines. The addition of ≥20% by volume of fines to a USGA sand increased water content in the soil to the point it was rendered unacceptable for trafficked turf sites. This research illustrates the influence fine particles, even in small amounts, can have on a USGA sand, and why they should not be added without prior evaluation.


GeoHazards ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulong Chen

The soil–water retention curves (SWRC) of soil plays a key role in unsaturated soil mechanics, which is a relatively new field of study having wide applications particularly in geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering. SWRCs were used to evaluate the ability of unsaturated soils to attract water with various water contents and matric suctions. Drying and wetting SWRCs for a sandy soil with different dry densities were studied in a laboratory. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance, image processing technology, and mercury intrusion porosimetry were used to characterize the microscopic mechanisms of pore size distribution in the soil. Soil–water retention in the soil samples was strongly dependent on the dry density. With zero matric suction, soil samples with a higher dry density had a lower initial volumetric water content. Volumetric water content changed at a slower rate when values of matric suction increased in soils with a higher dry density. Soil samples had residual matric suction and a larger air-entry value with a smaller slope of the SWRC when they had a higher density. Dry density change is mainly responsible for the large pores. The number of large pores decreased as dry density increased. As the dry density increased, the area of macropores occupying the largest portion decreased, while the area of mesopores and micropores increased. Minipores accounted for the smallest proportion of total area and they were nearly constant. The proportion of large diameter pores decreased relative to pores with small diameters in the tested soils. The total pore volume was lower for soil specimens that had larger dry densities, as compared to relatively loose specimens. There was hysteresis between the drying and wetting curves for all soil samples. Hysteresis decreased as the dry density of the soil increased. The different liquid–solid contact angle was the main factor causing hysteresis of SWRC.


2012 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 829-844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Pan ◽  
Yakov Pachepsky ◽  
Diederik Jacques ◽  
Andrey Guber ◽  
Robert L. Hill

1980 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 607-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis E. Vallejo

A new approach to the stability analysis of thawing slopes at shallow depths, taking into consideration their structure (this being a mixture of hard crumbs of soil and a fluid matrix), is presented. The new approach explains shallow mass movements such as skin flows and tongues of bimodal flows, which usually take place on very low slope inclinations independently of excess pore water pressures or increased water content in the active layer, which are necessary conditions in the methods available to date to explain these movements.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ran Yuan ◽  
Dan Ma ◽  
Hongwei Zhang

A test system for water flow in granular gangue mineral was designed to study the flow characteristics by compaction treatment. With the increase of the compaction displacement, the porosity decreases and void in granular gangue becomes less. The main reason causing initial porosity decrease is that the void of larger size is filled with small particles. Permeability tends to decrease and non-Darcy flow factor increases under the compaction treatment. The change trend of flow characteristics shows twists and turns, which indicate that flow characteristics of granular gangue mineral are related to compaction level, grain size distribution, crushing, and fracture structure. During compaction, larger particles are crushed, which in turn causes the weight of smaller particles to increase, and water flow induces fine particles to migrate (weight loss); meanwhile, a sample with more weight of size (0–2.5 mm) has a higher amount of weight loss. Water seepage will cause the decrease of some chemical components, where SiO2 decreased the highest in these components; the components decreased are more likely locked at fragments rather than the defect of the minerals. The variation of the chemical components has an opposite trend when compared with permeability.


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