Geotechnical Engineering 1

Chapter 6

Hydraulic Conductivity
(Permeability)
References:
Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering by: Braja M. Das
An Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering by: Robert Holtz, William D.
Kovacs, and Thomas C. Sheanan

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Key Terminology

permeability hydraulic gradient

coefficient of empirical equation
permeability
head pumping
pressure head elevation head
seepage velocity Seepage velocity

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 Introduction
Voids in soil are interconnected so that water in the voids can flow
from points of high energy to points of low energy. The velocity of
water flow in soil voids is rather small (e.g. 0.01 – 0.00001 cm/sec).

Why do we need to study the flow of water in

porous media??
● To estimate the quantity of underground seepage.
● To determine the quantity of water that can be discharged form
a soil.
● To determine the pore water pressure/effective stresses, and to
analyze earth structures subjected to water flow.
● To determine the volume change in soil layers (soil
consolidation) and settlement of foundation.

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 Introduction
Flow of water in soils depends on…..
● Porosity of the soil.
● Type of soil (particle size, particle shape, degree of packing).
● Viscosity of the fluid (temperature, chemical components).
● Total head (pressure head, velocity head, and elevation
head)

The degree of compressibility of a soil is expressed

by the coefficient of permeability of the soil “k”

(k) cm/sec, ft/sec, m/sec

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 Bernoulli’s Equation
The total head (energy) of water at a point can be given
by the sum of the pressure, velocity, and elevation heads.

pressure velocity elevation

head head head

In a porous media, the groundwater flow is very slow, and

it is common to assume v = 0, and therefore, Bernoulli’s
equation reduces to the simple,

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 Bernoulli’s Equation
● With a given datum plane (horizontal plane), the elevation head is
the vertical distance of a given point above or below it.
● The pressure head represents the height of water table in an open
standpipe (piezometer) above the point of measurement.

u = pore water pressure

Δh = total head loss

hydraulic gradient (i) =

total head loss per unit
distance.

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 Bernoulli’s Equation
Variation of velocity, v with hydraulic gradient, i

In most soils, the flow of water through the void

spaces can be considered laminar, thus,
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Darcy’s Law
Darcy (1856) observed that the flow of water through
clean sands has the following relationship:
v = discharge velocity
k = hydraulic conductivity (coefficient of
permeability)
i = hydraulic gradient
Discharge velocity (v) versus Seepage velocity (vs)

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 Hydraulic Conductivity (Permeability)
● Permeability - is a part of proportionality constant
in Darcy’s law which relates discharge (flow rate) and
fluid physical properties ( e. g. viscosity) to a
pressure gradient applied to the porous media.

Typical values of hydraulic conductivity for saturated soils

Soil type K (cm/sec)

clean gravel 100-1
coarse sand 1.0-0.01
fine sand 0.01-0.001
silty clay 0.001-0.00001
clay <0.000001
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Discharge Velocity vs Seepage Velocity

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Darcy’s Law Example

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Laboratory Determination of k

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 Laboratory Determination of k
● Constant Head Test –
for high permeability
coarse-grained soils.

Q = total volume
A = cross-sectional area
of the specimen
t = duration of water
collection
h = head

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Laboratory Determination of k

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 Laboratory Determination of k
● Falling Head Test – for low permeability fine-grained soils.

a = cross-sectional area of the

standpipe
A = cross-sectional area of the
specimen
t = duration of water collection
h1 = head at time t1
h2 = head at time t2

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 Empirical Relations for k
● For granular soil (Hazen, 1930)

c = constant and may be taken as 1.0

D10 = effective size of soil grains

● For cohesive soil (Samarasinghe et al., 1982)

C and n = constants to be determined experimentally

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Equivalent k in Stratified Soils

Natural soil deposits maybe stratified (level)

with sub-layers of different thickness and
coefficient of permeability. Vertical (1-D) flow
passes through stratified sub-layers with the
same velocities. Horizontal (1-D) flow passes
through stratified sub-layers with different
velocities.

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 Equivalent k in Stratified Soils
● Horizontal (1-D) Flow

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 Equivalent k in Stratified Soils
● Vertical (1-D) Flow

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 Permeability Test in the Field by Pumping from Wells

When underground water is pumped from the well,

the ground water table is lowered, (i.e. draw down).
The quantity of water pumped out and elevations of
ground water table after pumping can be used to
evaluate the coefficient of permeability of the soil
deposit.

Two types of pumping:

● Pumping in an unconfined permeable layer
● Pumping in a confined permeable layer

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Permeability Test in the Field by Pumping from Wells

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 Permeability Test in the Field by Pumping from Wells
● Pumping in an unconfined permeable layer

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 Permeability Test in the Field by Pumping from Wells
● Pumping in a confined permeable layer

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Example

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Example

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