CE 240

Soil Mechanics & Foundations

Lecture 5.2
Permeability III
(Das, Ch. 6)
Summary Soil Index Properties
(Das, Ch. 2-6)
Outline of this Lecture
1. Getting the in situ hydraulic conductivity
1.1 pumping test
1. 2 percolation test
2. Summary Soil Index Properties
Pumping test
The purpose of pumping test is to get the
information of permeability;
Pumping test is the active way to get k, the
permeability. The passive way is to do the
percolation test.
Some fundamental concepts: 1
Drawdown: the amount of water level to be lowered
by pumping in a well;
Time increase
Q
q
Some fundamental concepts (cont.)
Steady state: the equilibrium state when the
drawdown keeps no change at one particular
location to the well, no further drawdown develops
as pumping continues.
Specific yield: the quantity of water that a unit
volume of the aquifer will give up when drained by
gravity;
Specific retention: those part not given up by
gravity drainage;
Specific yield+ Specific retention = porosity
r
(Figure 15.10, West, 1995)
0 0
T T
dH dH
Q vAdt k Adt k AT
dr dr
= = =

where H is the head and x is the distance. The
surface area A is really the surface area of the
wall of a cylinder with a head of H, given the fact
the groundwater flow is essentially horizontal in
the aquifer to the well. So that
After the pump reaches a steady state ( the
water table drawdown does not change with
respect to time), for a given amount of time T,
the amount of water has been pumped out is Q,
in the unit of volume, like cubic meter, or gallons.
2 A rH =
then
2
2
dH dH
Q k AT k rH T
dr dr
r
kT HdH
dr

= =
=
Transform it we get
2 dr
kTHdH
r Q

=
Integration with respect to, respectively,
horizontal distance r from the well, and the
height of the drawdown cone, we have
2 2
1 1
2
r h
r h
dr
kT HdH
r Q

=

The integration gives
2
2
1
1
2
2 1
ln
2
h
r
r
h
r kT H
Q

=
So that if we know the head h in each well and
the wells locations, we can calculate the
hydraulic conductivity k
and
) ( ) ln( ln ln
2
1
2
2
1
2
1 2
h h kT
Q r
r
r r = =

3
2
2 2 2
2 1 1
2
2 2
2 1 1
2
10
2 2
2 1 1
ln( ) [ ] [ ]
( ) sec sec
ln( ) /
( )
2.303
log ( )
( )
r Q m m
k
T h h r m
r q
k q Q T
h h r
r q
k
h h r

= =

= =

If you use gallon per minute (gpm) for flow

rate q, and feet for head h1 and h2, then the
equation is
2
10
2 2
2 1 1
2.303
( /sec) log ( )
14.7 ( )
r q
k cm
h h r
=

Percolation Test
Percolation test is a passive and cheap way
to estimate soil permeability.
Percolation Test
In the leaching field of the septic system:
Need more than 6 holes, after test do the average;
Each hole to certain depth, usually 3-5;
Put 2 thick of coarse sand or gravel into the hole;
Fill 12 water above the sand/gravel;
Stay overnight;
In the next day before testing filling water by 6
above the sand/gravel;
Measure the water level drop at 30 minutes interval
for 4 hours. Every time, if needed, add 6 of water
again;
The drop occurred at the final 30 min. is used to
determine the percolation rate;
If the soil is highly permeable, use 10 min. for the
duration of 1 hour.
The permeability is:
1 2
1 2
2
2
) (
4 . 1
t t
h h
a
t
Q
Q with
dh
Q
k

A
h1
h2
dh
A
a
Section 6.11: in situ hydraulic
conductivity tests for compacted clay
soils adapt similar approach as showed
in the above percolation test. It is dry
and straightforward, you can easily read
through it.
Summary Soil Index Properties
(Das, Ch. 2-6)
Elements of soil mechanics
Index properties:
Index properties mean the observable physical
characteristics with significant influence on a
soils behavior. Index properties include the
descriptions of:
Soil particles;
Soil density;
Phase relationships;
Soil consistency;
Relative density;
moisture content.
Soil mechanics is a fundamental subject of
Geotechnical Engineering, which applies the
geological knowledge into foundation engineering
and highway engineering.
Soil index property related subjects
Soil moisture (Ch. 3);
Soil consistency (Ch. 3);
Soil classification (Ch. 4);
Soil compaction (Ch. 5);
Permeability/hydraulic conductivity (Ch. 6).
Lab tests
1. specific weight, moisture content,
dry unit weight
2. Sieve test/hydrometer test
3. Atterberg limit test
Soil particles
The description of the grain size distribution of soil
particles according to their texture (particle size,
shape, and gradation).
Major textural classes include:
gravel (>2 mm);
sand (0.1 2 mm);
silt (0.01 0.1 mm);
clay (< 0.01 mm).
Furthermore, gravel and sand can be roughly
classified as coarse textured soils, wile silt and clay
can be classified as fine textures soils.
For engineering purposes, soils can also be divided
into cohesive and non-cohesive soils. Non-cohesive
means the soil has no shear strength if no
confinement.
Cohesive soil contains clay minerals and posses
plasticity.
In engineering practice, plasticity is defined as the
ability to be rolled into thin thread before breaking
into pieces.
Clay is cohesive and plastic. For example, mud
sticking on shoes in a rainy day when one walk in a
field.
Sand is non-cohesive and non-plastic.
Phase relationship: the phase diagram
Wt: total weight
Ws: weight of solid
Ww: weight of water
Wa: weight of air = 0
Vt: total volume
Vs: volume of solid
Vw: volume of water
Vv: volume of the void
Solid
Air
Water
W
T
W
s
W
w
W
a
~0
V
s
V
a
V
w
V
v
V
T
Weight-Volume Relationships (Table 3.1)
The 3
rd
column is a special case of the 1st column when S = 1.
Example: If you have a soil sample with a weight of 150 g, after
thorough sieving you get the following result.
sieve# size(mm) W(g) % accum% 100-accum%
4 4.750 30.0 20 20 80
20 0.850 40.0 26.7 46.7 53.3
60 0.250 50.0 33.3 79 21
100 0.150 20.0 13.3 92 8
200 0.074 10.0 6.67 98 2
The last column shows the percentage of material finer than that
particular sieve size by weight.
West, Figure 7.1
D10
D60
D60 D60
D10
D10
Soil Consistency
Soil consistency is defined as the relative ease
with which a soil can be deformed use the
terms of soft, firm, or hard.
Consistency largely depends on soil minerals
and the water content.
Atterberg limits are the limits of water content
used to define soil behavior. The consistency
of soils according to Atterberg limits gives the
following diagram.
Consistency of Soils
Increase
permeability and
decrease
compressibility
West, Figure 7.11 Plasticity Chart
Lower compressibility
Higher compressibility
Soil Properties
Index properties
(Soil Characteristics)
Mechanical
Moisture Cont.
Unit Weight
Compressibility Permeability
Specific
Gravity
Gradation
Atterberg
Limits
Strength
(Shear)
Soil Properties
Compaction
In summary, course lectures in the past 5 weeks
discussed in detail about the physical properties
(the index property) of soil as a material.
After these 5 weeks, we will change the theme to talk
about the behavior of soil under a variety of load,
i.e., we start to talk about the mechanics and the
mechanical properties of soil.
Midterm Exam
Open book, open notes
Das, Chs. 2-6
Problems similar to homework in style
~4 problems.