Constant head permeability test

 SOIL REPORT

 Constant head permeability test

 Abstract: This blog post is a report of laboratory soil analysis to determine the permeability of granular soils like sands and gravels containing little or no silt.

Apparatus: Constant head apparatus, stopwatch, ruler

Procedures:

1.    The constant head permeability test involves the flow of water through a column of cylindrical soil samples under the constant pressure difference.

 

2.    The test is carried out in the permeability cell, or permeameter, which can vary in size depending on the grain size of the tested material.

 

3.    The soil sample has a cylindrical form with its diameter being large enough in order to be representative of the tested soil. The usual size of the cell often used for testing common sands is 75 mm diameter and 260 mm height between perforated plates.

 

4.    The testing apparatus is equipped with an adjustable constant head reservoir and an outlet reservoir which allows maintaining a constant head during the test.

 

5.     Water used for testing is de-aired water at a constant temperature.

 

6.    The permeability cell is also equipped with a loading piston that can be used to apply constant axial stress to the sample during the test.

 

7.    Before starting the flow measurements, the soil sample is saturated.

 

8.    During the test, the amount of water flowing through the soil column is measured for given time intervals.

Knowing the height of the soil sample column L, the sample cross-section A, and the constant pressure difference Δh, the volume of passing water Q, and the time interval ΔT, one can calculate the permeability of the sample as

K=QL / (A.Δh.Δt)

Q = volume of water collected

A = cross section area = π D ² / 4

I = hydraulic gradient = h/t

 

Data collection and calculation (manual result):

Weight of cylinder = 1917.5 g

Weight of (cylinder + soil) = 3045.5 g

Weight of soil = 1128 g

L = 18.2 cm

D = 8cm

H = 117 cm

Q (ml)	T (s)
20	122 s
40	260 s

 

A = π D² / 4 = 50.24 cm²

K1 = 20 * 1.82 / (50.24*117*122) = 5 * 10 ^-3 cm/s

K2 = 40 * 1.82 / (50.24*117*260) = 4.76 * 10 ^-3 cm/s

So, k= 4.88 * 10 ^-3 cm/s

Reference:

1)    Soil lab (BAU)

2)    Book: principles of geotechnical engineering (25th edition)