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A Review of theoretical and experimental methods to measure coefficient of

permeability of unsaturated soils

Article  in  Electronic Journal of Geotechnical Engineering · January 2011

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 A Review of Theoretical and
Experimental Methods to Measure
Coefficient of Permeability of
Unsaturated Soils

Farzad Daliri

Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University,
Ottawa, Canada
e-mail: fdaliri@connect.carleton.ca

ABSTRACT
The soil permeability is a fundamental property of the soil required to understand the flow
of water in the soil. The majority of geoenvironmental problems are derived from water
flow in unsaturated soil. This paper aims to review the methods for predicting the
coefficient of permeability (CP) in unsaturated soils both theoretically and experimentally.
Firstly, the differences between the CP in saturated and unsaturated soils are discussed
.Secondly, the discussion has been developed to indirectly measure the CP from soil-water
characteristic curves (SWCC). Van-Genuchten (1980) ,Fredlund et al.(1994) models have
been considered to predict the CP from SWCC. An experimental method related to the
triaxial permeameter test is also explained to directly measure CP. In conclusion, both
theoretical and experimental methods have been verified and it was obtained that the
coefficient of permeability of unsaturated soils before air entry value is close to hydraulic
conductivity of saturated soils. It was also concluded that the direct method for measuring
coefficient of permeability is time consuming and expensive
KEYWORDS: Coefficient of permeability, Unsaturated soils, Soil-Water
Characteristic Curve (SWCC)

INTRODUCTION
The water flow behavior is a key parameter for solving many geotechnical or geo-
environmental problems. Thus, finding the coefficient of permeability or hydraulic conductivity
is useful for designing geotechnical structures such as earth dams, retaining walls, pavements, etc.
The structure of the solid particles in any soil generally always has voids. 4These voids provide

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 Vol. 16 [2011], Bund. U 1666

the water and air with continuous paths of flow. The flow affects both the structure and the
stability of the soil mass. For example, the flow of water through an earth dam creates larger and
larger paths, much like pipes, that could eventually lead to the collapse of the entire structure.
Therefore, the study of the behavior of the flow of water and air through soils is of great
importance in the field of soil and rock mechanics. Likewise, prediction of seepage is necessary
for designing soil covers, earth dams, etc.
Comparing other soil properties such as shear strength and volume change with CP, it is
obtained that CP can fluctuate more than other parameters (Fredlund et al., 1994). Hydraulic
conductivity of saturated soils can vary approximately 10 orders of magnitudes from gravel to
clay (Fredlund et al., 1994). Hydraulic conductivity of saturated soils is a function of void ratio.
On the other hand, in unsaturated soils CP is associated with the pore size distribution and
amount of water that covers the pore. In other words, since soils are normally deformable, CP is a
function of degree of saturation and void ratio (Shangyan et al., 1998). As a result, CP can be
determined as a function of any two parameters of water content (w), degree of saturation(S),
void ratio (e), (Leong et al., 1997):

( ) ( ) ( ) (1)

Hydraulic conductivity with respect to water phase K(w) is measuring the available space for
water through the soil. Obviously, the mass of water flowing through a soil is proportionally
related to the CP. In unsaturated soils, as suction increases and pores desaturate, the CP
decreases. In fact, there is limitation in the flow of water as suction increases. Meanwhile, water
in large pores are replaced by air as soil desaturates ; therefore water flows through smaller pores
and this process can increase the permeability. As a result, there is a relationship between
coefficient of permeability and soil water characteristic curve.
There is a huge difference in determining the CP in saturated soils and unsaturated soils in
terms of cost and convenience. The coefficient of permeability of saturated soils can be
experimentally determined in either laboratory or field. Unfortunately, measuring CP of
unsaturated soils with experimental methods is inconvenient, costly and time-consuming.
Consequently, geotechnical researchers have been interested to find hydraulic conductivity of
unsaturated soils employing mathematical or statistical methods. In this paper, direct and indirect
methods for measuring CP of unsaturated soils are discussed. Huang et al. (1988) used a triaxial
permeameter test to directly measure CP in a certain time with respect to water and air phases.
Indirect methods are associated with statistically predicting the CP from an appropriate equation
of soil-water characteristic curve. Fredlund et al. (1994) and Van-Genuchten (1980) have
introduced some statistical methods for finding the CP with respect to the SWCC.

INDIRECT METHODS FOR PREDICTING THE

COEFFICIENT OF PERMEABILITY
Due to the fact that experimental methods for finding CP of unsaturated soils are expensive
and time consuming, it is proposed to statistically predict the coefficient of permeability
(Fredlund et al., 1994). In unsaturated soils it is necessary to know the relationship between
matric suction and water content in order to mathematically find the coefficient of permeability.
As a result, soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) should be considered and predicting the
hydraulic conductivity is associated with finding an appropriate equation for soil-water
characteristic curve.
 Vol. 16 [2011], Bund. U 1667

For predicting coefficient of permeability with indirect measurements, water content

(volumetric or Gravimetric) of the soil at each matric suction is measured. There is a relationship
between SWCC and coefficient of permeability in unsaturated soils. The soil pore size
distribution can be derived using SWCC. As a result, if the equation of SWCC, the relationship
between degree of saturation and matric suction, is statistically determined, the coefficient of
permeability can be predicted. In addition, the saturated coefficient of permeability is also
required. There are many statistical methods for finding the coefficient of permeability. In this
paper, only two popular methods have been reviewed. The statistical methods use probability
methods such as probability of liquid phase continuity between pores in order to find a
probability function to predict the coefficient of permeability. The majority of methods use the
residual water content in their functions. The residual degree of saturation (Sr) is a degree of
saturation where the increase in suction value does not lead to change in degree of saturation
(Figure 1).

Figure 1: Soil Water Characteristic Curve (Fredlund et al., 1994)

Van-Genuchten model
The majority of statistical equations which have been proposed for predicting the SWCC is
derived from this equation: (Leong et al., 1997)

( ) ( ) (2)
 Vol. 16 [2011], Bund. U 1668

where a1, a2 … a7, b1 and b2 are constants, and

(3)
Θ=
where θs is the maximum moisture content.
Van-Genuchten (1980) equation is the most popular equation for predicting the CP from soil
water characteristic curve. In this equation, three constant parameters should be mathematically
found for the equation of soil water characteristic curve. Using these three constant parameters,
the relative coefficient of permeability can be predicted by the Van-Genuchten (1980) equation,

Θ= (4)
( )
where , m and n are constants. Leong and Rahardjo (1997) assumed that m=1-1/n and fitting the
parameters, the coefficient of permeability in terms of volumetric water content were obtained:

( ) (5)
( )

where “Ks” and “Kθ” are saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivities respectively. It is
needless to say that the most crucial step of using Van-Gentuchten (1980) model is predicting the
constant parameters. Figure 2 shows the effect of Van-Genuchten constant parameters on
behavior of SWCCs.

(a) (b)
Figure 2: Influence of Van-Genuchten constant parameters on SWCC (Leong et. al., 1997)

Fredlund and Xing model F

Fredlund (1994) model was also derived from equation 1:
 Vol. 16 [2011], Bund. U 1669

(6)
[ ( ) ]

Editing equation 6, Fredlund and Xing (1994) proposed the following equation to describe
the soil water characteristic curve:

( )
(7)
[ ( ) ]

where “e” is the natural number 2.71828, a is almost the air entry value of the soil water
characteristic curve, “n” is a parameter that can manage the slope of the SWCC, “m” is a constant
associated with the residual water content and “C(ψ)” is a function that is related to matric
suction. Fredlund and Xing(1994) demonstrated that parameter C(ψ) is approximately equal to
one in low suction rates. Figure 3 presents the influence of constant values in Fredlund and Xing
(1994)’s equation.

a) b)
Figure 3: The effect of constant values on Fredlund and Xing (1994)’s equation

DIRECT METHODS FOR MEASURING THE

COEFFICIENT OF PERMEABILITY
In comparison to indirect methods, direct methods for measuring the coefficient of
permeability are expensive, time-consuming and tedious. However, there are some experiments to
directly measure the coefficient of permeability. The majority of direct methods are associated
with the steady-state method because of its understandable concepts (Huang et al., 1988). There
are two steady-states methods to measure the CP of unsaturated soils: 1) Controlling the hydraulic
head, 2) Controlling the discharge (Huang et al., 1988). However, controlling the hydraulic head
 Vol. 16 [2011], Bund. U 1670

is more common in comparison to the second method. Huang et al. (1988) proposed a theoretical
method for predicting the coefficient of permeability. Triaxial permeameter was employed to
evaluate the result of this theoretical method. Triaxial permeameter consists of a triaxial cell and a
control board. The basic cell was used to determine the deformation of unsaturated soils related to
matric suction variation.

Basic requirement for triaxial permeameter system

In order to accurately measure the coefficient of permeability, the system should be able to
have the following requirement: (Huang et al., 1988)

a) The system is expected to independently measure the total stress, pore air pressure and pore
water pressure,
b) The system should monitor the hydraulic head in each period of the test,
c) It is necessary for the inflow and outflow of the system to be accurately calculated,
d) Measuring the volume of the diffused air is required,
e) Measuring and monitoring the volume change of the specimen during the test are required.

Description of the triaxial permeameter

A schematic diagram of triaxial permeameter cell has been shown in Figure 4. There is a steel
cylindrical material for covering the cell. This cover can sustain almost 1500 kPa. There are also
aluminum base plate and loading cap in the cell. A 10.1 mm thick, 90 mm diameter, 1 bar high
flow high air-entry disk was produced. The high air-entry disk has a coefficient of permeability of
approximately 2.5* 10^-8 m/s (Huang et al., 1988). A groove with 2 mm wide and 2 mm deep
was provided in order to apply pore air pressure to the specimen. Another spiral groove was
made on the pedestals and the cap for flushing air bubbles in accordance with diffusion. Air
bubbles exist in the pore water pressure line might lead to some mistakes in the measurement of
water volume and water pressure unless their volumes are measured and appropriate corrections
are added. The dimensions of the pedestal and the loading cap are shown in Figure 5. Obviously,
one of the important issues that should be considered is the total volume change of the specimen.
In saturated soils, the total volume change of the specimen can be easily calculated by subtracting
the inflow and outflow water volumes after equilibrium condition. Unfortunately, this method is
not appropriate for unsaturated soils. In order to measure the total volume change in unsaturated
soils, the deformation of the specimen should be monitored (Huang et al., 1988). The variation of
the diameter should be considered. Two non-contacting displacement transducers were located in
the diameter of the specimen in order to measure the change of diameter in the specimen.
Vol. 16 [2011], Bund. U 1671

Figure 4: Description of the triaxial permeameter (Huang et al., 1988)

 Vol. 16 [2011], Bund. U 1672

Figure 5: Description of triaxial permeameter (Huang et al., 1988)

A third non-contacting displacement transducer was placed vertically for finding the change
of height (Huang et al., 1988). Aluminum foil targets, which were made from four folds of 20
mm squares, were attached to the rubber membrane opposite the transducers for laterally placed
transducers. Likewise, the aluminum foil target placed on the bottom of porcelain cup for vertical
installation. The plumbing layout for the triaxial permeameter cell is shown in Figure 6. The
upper pore-water pressure line is controlled by regulator C and the air pressure is transferred to a
water pressure in a half-filled water tank which, in turn, is transmitted through the upper volume
change indicator, and applied to the top of the specimen through the upper high air-entry disk
(Huang et al., 1988). The lower pore-water pressure line is controlled by regulator D.
In addition, regulator A controls the air pressure and monitored using a pressure transducer. The
compressed air is applied to the specimen through the pore-air pressure groove on the loading
cap. The cell pressure line is controlled by regulator B and monitored by a pressure transducer.
The cell pressure acts as a confining pressure on the specimen. The upper and lower flushing
lines were designed such that diffused air could be flushed from the water compartments located
in the loading cap and in the pedestal. Diffused air bubbles will produce errors in the
 Vol. 16 [2011], Bund. U 1673

measurement of the inflow and outflow water and consequently it can be influential in measuring
volume change (Huang et al., 1988).

Figure 6: Plumbing layout for triaxial permeameter (Hunt, 2004)

Testing materials
A silty sand from a Saskatchewan Department of Highway pit was selected for the test
program (Huang et al., 1988). The index properties of the soil are shown in Table 1(Huang et al.,
1988). All specimens for the experimental program were prepared by adding distilled water to
air-dried soil to produce a slurry with a gravimetric water content of approximately 24%.
 Vol. 16 [2011], Bund. U 1674

Table 1: Properties of the testing material (Huang et al., 1988)

Gs (%) 2.68 Silt (%) 37.5
LL 22.2 Clay (%) 10
PL 16.6 D10 (mm) 0.002
PI 5.6 D30 (mm) 0.02
Sand 52.5 D60 (mm) 0.09

Testing Procedure
The axis-translation equipment was employed in this test. The 1 bar high air entry disk was
designed, which allow water to flow but prevent air to flow using a contractile skin. The
following procedure was performed during the triaxial permeameter test (Huang et al., 1988):

a) The specimen was consolidated and simultaneously the total volume change of the
specimen was measured during consolidation using both the volume change indicators
and the non-contacting displacement transducers.
b) The differential head to both ends of the specimen measured and inflow and outflow were
monitored. Since the difference between outflow and inflow is less than 5 percent, we can
assume that the specimen is completely consolidate. Accordingly, the saturated
coefficient of permeability can be calculated. (Huang et al., 1988)
c) By using regulators, both the pore- air pressure and confining pressure were applied to
the specimen simultaneously. In this step, the net normal stress maintained constant but
matric suction increases.
d) In this step, the specimen was allowed to desaturate. Moreover, a differential head was
also simultaneously applied to both ends of the specimen. The total volume change and
the inflow and outflow water volumes were monitored. Once the difference between the
inflow and outflow water volumes for a particular time interval was less than 5%, the
specimen was considered to be at equilibrium. As a result, the coefficient of permeability
can be calculated with respect to Darcy’s law and steady sate flow.
e) If the matric suction is lower than 90 kPa, step c and d should be repeated as long as the
matric suction is equal to 90 kPa, which is the matric suction 10 kPa lower than
cavitation boundary.

Test Results
Six tests were conducted using the developed triaxial permeameter (Huang et al., 1988). The
equipment performed well until the matric suction reached 50 kPa. The high air-entry disk on the
pedestal had been damaged during testing. As a result, the air-entry value of the disk was
remarkably reduced. When the matric suction approached 50 KPa, air penetrated the cracks in the
high air-entry disk and a considerable volume of air was collected in the diffused air volume
indicator and the test was stopped at this matric suction (Huang et al., 1988). The remaining five
 Vol. 16 [2011], Bund. U 1675

tests were conducted after a new high air-entry disk was sealed onto the base plate. The
equipment performed well for the remainder of the tests. The measurements of the total volume
of the specimens indicated that the total volume change could not be monitored accurately
(Huang et al., 1988) .It takes place when the total volume changes obtained during consolidation
were compared to the outflow water volume during the same time period. The total volume
changes measured using the non-contacting displacement transducers over-estimated the actual
total volume change. In fact, nonuniform deformations of the specimens are likely responsible for
the low accuracy in the measurements.
Void-ratio changes versus matric suction are shown in Figure 7. The results show that the
change in void ratio is complete when the matric suction reaches almost 30 Kpa. Soil water
characteristic curves measured in this material produced an air-entry value of 30 kPa. According
to Figure 7, as the matric suction increases more than 30 Kpa, the void ratio does not change
considerably. The coefficients of permeability versus matric suction relationships are presented in
Figure 8. The coefficient of permeability does not change significantly when the matric suction is
low. As the matric suction increases beyond the air-entry value of the soil the coefficient of
permeability decreases significantly.

Figure 7: the void ration change versus matric suction (Huang et al., 1998)
 Vol. 16 [2011], Bund. U 1676

Figure 8: Coefficient of permeability versus matric suction (Huang et al., 1998)

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Coefficient of permeability of soil is a fundamental property used in the design of several
geotechnical and geo-environmental structures such as soil liners, mine tailings storage facilities,
covers, pavements and earth dams. Many of these structures are typically in a state of unsaturated
condition and hence the coefficient of permeability function, which is defined as the variation of
coefficient of permeability with respect to suction, is required for design purposes. This paper
reviews theoretical models such as Van-Genuchten (1980) and Fredlund et al.(1994) models in
addition to direct experimental methods to predict the coefficient of permeability of unsaturated
soils. It was understood that almost all SWCC equations can be derived from a generic equation.
In addition, the constant parameters are significantly considerable in predicting the coefficient of
permeability. A triaxial permeameter has been discussed as a direct measurement method. It is
concluded that the direct method for measuring coefficient of permeability is time consuming and
expensive. Moreover, it is concluded that with increasing matric suction to air entry value,
coefficient of permeability does not change significantly; however, after the air entry value, it
decreases significantly with increasing matric suction. In other words, coefficient of permeability
of unsaturated soils before air entry value is close to saturated hydraulic conductivity.

REFERENCES
1) Huang S.,Barbour L.,Fredlund D.G.(1998), “Development and verification of a
coefficient of permeability function for a deformable unsaturated soil”, Canadian
Geotechnical Journal,35: 411-425
 Vol. 16 [2011], Bund. U 1677

2) Huang S., Fredlund D.G., Barbour S.L. (1998), “Measurement of the coefficient of
permeability for a deformable unsaturated soil using a triaxial permeameter”, Canadian
Geotechnical Journal, 35:426-432
3) Hunt A.G. ,2004, “Comparing van Genuchten and Percolation Theoretical Formulations
of the Hydraulic Properties of Unsaturated Media”, Vadose Zone Journal 3:1483-1488
4) Fredlund D.G., Xing A., Huang S. (1994), “Predicting the permeability function for
unsaturated soils using the soil-water characteristic curve”, Canadian Geotechnical
Journal, 31(3):521-523
5) Leong E.C., Rahardjo H. (1997),”Permeability functions for unsaturated soils”, Journal of
Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering ,123: 1118-1126
6) Leong E.C. , Rahardjo H. (1997), “Review of Soil water characteristic curve equations”,
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, December 1997, 1108-1117

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