Advanced Soil Mechanics Lecture

Permeability of soil

Dr. Abhisekh Saha

Department of Civil Engineering
Techno India University
 Advanced soil mechanics

Permeability of soil
 The key physical property that governs the flow of water in soils is hydraulic
conductivity (also known as permeability).

 Soil permeability describes the rate of flow of

water through the soil sample.

 A soil is highly pervious when water can flow

through it easily. (Gravels)

 In an impervious soil, the permeability is very low

and water cannot easily flow through it. (Clays)

 How the water flow through the soils?

 What law describe the flow of water through soils?
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 Advanced soil mechanics

Importance of this chapter

 The flow of water can cause instability and failure of many geotechnical
structures (such as earthen dams, roads, reservoir, excavation, slopes).

 It is important to determine the amount of water flowing through a soil in

unit time.

 This knowledge is required for design earth dams to calculate the quantity of
seepage under hydraulic structures, or for dewatering during the
construction of foundations.

Failure of earthen dam Failure of slope Failure of railway embankment

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 Advanced soil mechanics

Fundamental of fluid flow

 According to the well-known Bernoulli’s principle of energy conservation for
incompressible steady-state flow,
𝒗𝟐𝟏 𝒑𝟏 𝒗𝟐𝟐 𝒑𝟐
+ + 𝒈𝒉𝟏 = + + 𝒈𝒉𝟐 = 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚
𝟐 𝝆𝒘 𝟐 𝝆𝒘

𝒗𝟐𝟏 𝒑𝟏 𝒗𝟐𝟐 𝒑𝟐
or + + 𝒉𝟏 = + + 𝒉𝟐 = 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅
𝟐𝒈 𝝆𝒘 𝒈 𝟐𝒈 𝒈𝝆𝒘

Velocity head Potential head (𝒉𝒛 )

Pressure head (𝒉𝒑 )
 For flow of water through soil, the velocity head is comparatively small (v< 1
cm/s) and usually neglected.
𝒖
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑯 = 𝒉𝒛 + 𝒉𝒑 = 𝒉𝒛 +
γ𝒘
 Here, u= pore pressure= 𝒉𝒑 γ𝒘 4
 Advanced soil mechanics

Fundamental of fluid flow

 Total head at point A,
𝒖𝑨
𝒉𝑨 = 𝒁𝑨 + ∆𝑯
𝜸𝒘
𝒖𝑨
 Total head at point B, γ𝒘
𝒖𝑩
𝒉𝑩 = 𝒁𝑩 + A 𝒖𝑩
𝜸𝒘 γ𝒘
 Change of head between A 𝒉𝑨
𝒉𝑩
and B
B
∆𝑯 = 𝒉𝑨 − 𝒉𝑩 𝒁𝑨
𝒁𝑩
𝒖𝑨 𝒖𝑩
= 𝒁𝑨 + − 𝒁𝑩 +
𝜸𝒘 𝜸𝒘
Datum
∆𝑯
 Head loss per unit length = 5
𝑳
 Advanced soil mechanics

Darcy’s Law for flow through soil

 Darcy (1856) proposed that the flow velocity of water through soil is
proposal to the gradient of total head.
𝒗 = average velocity of flow
𝒅𝑯
𝒗∝
𝒅𝒙 dH is the change in head
over a distance dx
𝒅𝑯 ∆𝑯 𝒌 = Coefficient of permeability
𝒗=𝒌 =𝒌 = 𝒌𝒊
𝒅𝒙 𝑳
𝑳= Length of soil sample
 The unit of coefficient of permeability (also known as hydraulic conductivity)
is m/sec (S.I unit) or cm/sec (C.G.S unit)
∆𝑯
 is termed as hydraulic gradient (i), which represents the head loss per unit
𝑳
length.
 The Darcy’s law can be written in terms of rate of water flow (q) through soil
𝒒 = 𝒗𝑨 = 𝒌𝒊𝑨
q is the flow rate of water through the Cross-sectional area of A 6
 Advanced soil mechanics

Validity of Darcy’s law

 Flow of water must fulfill continuity condition.

 Darcy’s law is only valid for laminar flow (Reynold’s number less than 21000).

 Fancher et al. (1933) gave the

following criteria for the
applicability of Darcy’s law. Turbulent flow

𝒗𝑫𝒔 𝜸𝒘
≤𝟏
𝝁𝒈
 𝒗 = Velocity of the water
 𝑫𝒔 = Diameter of a sphere of
equilibrium volume to the
average soil particle. Laminar flow
 𝝁 = Dynamic viscosity of water
(1.12 N.s/𝐦𝟐 at 15.6 ℃) 7
 Advanced soil mechanics

Factors affecting permeability of soil

 Soil type: Coarse-grained soils have higher permeabilities than fine-grained
soils.

 Particle size: Permeability depends on the 𝐃𝟏𝟎 value of coarse-grained soils.

𝒌 = 𝒄𝑫𝟐𝟏𝟎 (Hazen, 1930)
here, c is a empirical constant ranging between 0.4 to 1.4

 Void ratio: For same type of soil, an increase in the void ratio increases the
area available for flow, resulting higher permeability.
𝒆𝟑
𝒌∝
𝟏+𝒆

 Pore fluid properties: Permeability of soil directly proportional to the unit

weight of the pore fluid and inversely proportional to the viscosity of the
pore fluid.
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 Advanced soil mechanics

Factors affecting permeability of soil

 Particle arrangement: For the same void ratio, permeability is more for
flocculated soil structure as dispersed structure.

>
Flocculated structure Dispersed structure
 Degree of saturation: The permeability of fully saturated soil is higher than
the permeability of partially saturated state. For fully saturated soils, the
water filled pores are interconnected, resulting higher flow rate through soil.

>

Fully saturated soil Partially saturated soil 9

 Advanced soil mechanics

Factors affecting hydraulic conductivity

 Entrapped gas: Entrapped gases tend to reduce the hydraulic conductivity.

 Presence of organic compound: The organic impurities obstruct the obstruct

the flow and hence reduce the permeability.
 Layering, and fissuring: Water tends to seep quickly through loose layers,
through fissures, and along the interface of layered soils
Range of permeability for common soil type
Soil type k (cm/s) Drainage
Clean gravel (GW, GP) > 1.0 Very good
Clean sand, clean sand and gravel
1.0 to 10−3 Good
mixture (SW, SP)
Fine sand, silt (SM-SC) 10−3 to 10−5 Poor
Weathered and fissured clay, silt, silty
10−5 to 10−7 Poor
clay (MH, ML)
Homogeneous clay (CL, CH) < 10−7 Very poor 10
 Advanced soil mechanics

Determination of coefficient of permeability

 Coefficient of permeability of soil can be determined by the following
methods,
 Laboratory methods
 Constant head method [ASTM D2434 (2019)]
 Falling head method [ASTM D5084 (2016)]
 Field method
 Pumping well method
 The viscosity of the fluid, which is a function of temperature, influences the
value of permeability.

 The experimental value (𝒌𝑻℃ ) is corrected to a baseline temperature of 20 ℃

using the following equation,
𝝁𝑻℃
𝒌𝟐𝟎℃ = 𝒌𝑻℃ = 𝒌𝑻℃ 𝑹𝑻 Correction factor, 𝑹𝑻 = 𝟐. 𝟒𝟐 − 𝟎. 𝟒𝟕𝟓𝒍𝒏 (𝑻)
𝝁𝟐𝟎℃
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 Advanced soil mechanics
Constant head method
 Water is allowed to flow through a cylindrical sample
of soil under a constant head (h).

 The outflow (Q) is collected in a graduated cylinder at

a convenient duration (t).
∆𝑯 𝒉
So, ∆𝑯 = 𝒉 and, i= = 𝒉
𝑳 𝑳 𝑳
𝑸
The flow rate through soil, 𝒒𝒛 = 𝒕
𝑸
= 𝒌𝒛 𝒊𝑨 𝑨 = Cross-sectional area
𝒕
𝑸 𝑸𝑳
𝒌𝒛 = =
𝒊𝑨𝒕 𝑨𝒉𝒕
𝒌𝒛 is the coefficient of permeability in vertical direction

 This method is applicable for coarse-grained soils. 12

 Advanced soil mechanics
Falling head method
 The falling-head test is used for fine-grained soils. 𝒅𝒉

 The flow of water through fine-grained soils is too slow

to get reasonable measurements from the constant-
head test.

 In this method, water is allowed to flow through the

sample from a standpipe attached to the top of the
cylinder. 𝒉
 The changes in head of water (h) with time (t) as flow 𝑳
occurs through the soil is recorded.
𝒅𝒉
The velocity or rate of head loss in the tube is, 𝒗 = −
𝒅𝒕
And the inflow of water into the soil is,
𝒅𝒉 𝒂 = Cross-sectional
𝒒𝒊𝒏 = 𝒂𝒗 = −𝒂 area of standpipe
𝒅𝒕 13
 Advanced soil mechanics

Falling head method (Contd.)

The outflow of water from the soil is (using Darcy’s law), 𝒅𝒉
𝒉
𝒒𝒐𝒖𝒕 = 𝒌𝒛 𝑨 𝑨 = Cross-sectional area of
𝑳 soil sample
From the continuity condition,
𝒒𝒊𝒏 = 𝒒𝒐𝒖𝒕

𝒅𝒉 𝒉
−𝒂 = 𝒌𝒛 𝑨 𝒉
𝒅𝒕 𝑳
Integrating the above equation between the appropriate limits 𝑳

𝑨𝒌𝒛 𝒕𝟐 𝒉𝟐
𝒅𝒉
න 𝒅𝒕 = − න
𝒂𝑳 𝒕𝟏 𝒉𝟏 𝒉

𝒂𝑳 𝒉𝟏
𝒌𝒛 = 𝒍𝒏
𝑨(𝒕𝟐 − 𝒕𝟏 ) 𝒉𝟐
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 Advanced soil mechanics

Pumping well method for field permeability

 Field permeability can be determined by pumping water at a constant flow
rate from a well and measuring the decrease in groundwater level at
observation wells.

 Assumptions:
 The pumping well penetrates through the water-bearing stratum and is
perforated only at the section that is below the groundwater level.

 The soil mass is homogeneous, isotropic, and of infinite size.

 Darcy’s law is valid.

 Flow is radial toward the well.

 The hydraulic gradient at any point in the water-bearing stratum is constant

and is equal to the slope of groundwater surface (Dupuit’s assumption).
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 Advanced soil mechanics

Pumping well method for field permeability

Unconfined permeable layer underlain by impermeable layer

Pumping well Observation well

Initial groundwater level

Drawdown curve

Pervious layer

Impervious layer
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 Advanced soil mechanics

Pumping well method for field permeability

 Let dh be the drop in total head over a distance dr. The hydraulic gradient is,
𝒅𝒉
𝒊=
𝒅𝒓
 The area of flow at a radial distance r from the center of the pumping well is,
A= 𝟐𝝅𝒓𝒉
 From Darcy’s law, the flow is,
𝒅𝒉
𝒒𝒛 = 𝟐𝝅𝒓𝒉𝒌𝒛
𝒅𝒓
Rearranging the above equation and integrating it between the appropriate limits
𝒓𝟐 𝒉𝟐
𝒅𝒓
𝒒𝒛 න = 𝟐𝝅𝒌𝒛 න 𝒉. 𝒅𝒉
𝒓𝟏 𝒓 𝒉𝟏

𝒓𝟐
𝒒𝒛 𝒍𝒏
𝒓𝟏
𝒌𝒛 =
𝝅(𝒉𝟐𝟐 − 𝒉𝟐𝟏 ) 17
 Advanced soil mechanics

Pumping well method for field permeability

Well penetrating confined aquifer
𝒅𝒉
𝒒𝒛 = 𝟐𝝅𝒓𝑯𝒌𝒛
𝒅𝒓
Initial groundwater level
Rearranging and integrating it
between the appropriate limits
𝒓𝟐
𝒅𝒓 𝒉𝟐 Pervious layer
Pervious layer
𝒒𝒛 න = 𝟐𝝅𝒌𝒛 𝑯 න 𝒅𝒉
𝒓𝟏 𝒓 𝒉𝟏

Solving the above equation,

𝒓 Impervious layer
𝒒𝒛 𝒍𝒏 𝒓𝟐
𝟏
𝒌𝒛 =  With measurements of 𝒓𝟏 , 𝒓𝟐 , 𝒉𝟏 , 𝒉𝟐 and
𝟐𝝅𝑯(𝒉𝟐 − 𝒉𝟏 )
𝒒𝒛 (flow rate of the pump), 𝒌𝒛 can be
calculated 18
 Geotechnical Engineering- I

Empirical relationships for permeability

 For a homogeneous soil, the hydraulic conductivity depends predominantly
on the interconnected pore spaces.
Taylor (1948)  𝑫𝟓𝟎 is the particle diameter
corresponding to 50% finer
𝟑
𝜸𝒘 𝑪 𝟏 𝒆  𝒆 is the void ratio; 𝝁 is the viscosity of water;
𝒌𝒛 = 𝑫𝟐𝟓𝟎
𝝁 𝟏+𝒆  𝑪𝟏 is constant (determined from experiment)

 For coarse-grained soils, Hazen (1930) proposed the following relationship,

𝒌𝒛 (𝒄𝒎/𝒔) = 𝒄𝑫𝟐𝟏𝟎  𝑫𝟏𝟎 is the particle diameter
corresponding to 10% finer (mm)
Valid for 𝑫𝟏𝟎 sizes
 c is a constant varying between 0.4 and
between 0.1 and 3.0 mm
1.4
 For normally consolidated clay, Samarasinghe et al. (1982) proposed the
following relationship,
𝒆𝒏  𝑪𝟐 and 𝒏 is empirical constants, need to
𝒌𝒛 = 𝑪𝟐
𝟏+𝒆 be determined experimentally 19
 Advanced soil mechanics

Flow through stratified soil layer

y

𝒌𝟏

𝑍1
x

𝒌𝟐

𝑍2
𝑯𝟎
z

𝒌𝟑

𝑍3
 We have considered flow only through homogeneous soils. In reality, soils are
stratified or layered with different soil types.

 In calculating flow through layered soils, an equivalent hydraulic conductivity

representing the whole soil mass is determined from the permeability of each
layer.
 The flow can occurs parallel to the layers and also normal to the layers.

Equivalent hydraulic conductivity, 𝒌𝒆𝒒 = 𝒌𝒙(𝒆𝒒) 𝒌𝒛(𝒆𝒒)

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 Advanced soil mechanics
Flow of water parallel to soil layer
 For horizontal flow, the head, h
over the same length, L will be the
𝒉
same for each layer.
𝐢 = 𝒊𝟏 = 𝒊𝟐 = 𝒊𝟑 =. . = 𝒊𝒏
 The total flow through the cross

𝑍1
section in unit time can be 𝒌𝟏
written as,

𝑍2
𝒌𝟐
𝒒𝒙 = 𝒒𝒙𝟏 + 𝒒𝒙𝟐 + 𝒒𝒙𝟑 +. . +𝒒𝒙𝒏
𝒌𝟑

𝑍3
 Now, for a unit width of flow,
𝑳
𝒒𝒙 = 𝑨𝒗 = 𝟏 × 𝑯𝟎 𝒌𝒙(𝒆𝒒) 𝒊

= 𝟏 × 𝒁𝟏 𝒌𝒙𝟏 𝒊 + 𝟏 × 𝒁𝟐 𝒌𝒙𝟐 𝒊 + 𝟏 × 𝒁𝟑 𝒌𝒙𝟑 𝒊+. . + 𝟏 × 𝒁𝒏 𝒌𝒙𝒏 𝒊

𝟏
𝒌𝒙(𝒆𝒒) = (𝒁𝟏 𝒌𝒙𝟏 + 𝒁𝟐 𝒌𝒙𝟐 + 𝒁𝟑 𝒌𝒙𝟑 +. . +𝒁𝒏 𝒌𝒙𝒏 )
𝑯𝟎 21
 Advanced soil mechanics
Flow of water perpendicular to soil layer
 For flow normal to the soil layers, the
flow velocity, v over the entire length, 𝒉
H will be the same for each layer.
𝒗 = 𝒗𝟏 = 𝒗𝟐 = 𝒗𝟑 =. . = 𝒗𝒏

𝒌𝒛 𝒆𝒒 𝒊 = 𝒌𝒛𝟏 𝒊𝟏 = 𝒌𝒛𝟐 𝒊𝟐 = 𝒌𝒛𝟑 𝒊𝟑 =. . = 𝒌𝒛𝒏 𝒊𝒏

𝒌𝟏

𝑍1
𝒉 𝒉𝟏 𝒉𝟐 𝒉𝟑 𝒉𝒏
𝒌𝒛 𝒆𝒒 = 𝒌𝒛𝟏 = 𝒌𝒛𝟐 = 𝒌𝒛𝟑 =. . = 𝒌𝒛𝒏
𝑯 𝒁𝟏 𝒁𝟐 𝒁𝟑 𝒁𝒏 𝒌𝟐 𝑯

𝑍2
 The total head loss in the soil mass is the

𝑍3
𝒌𝟑
sum of the head losses in each layer.
𝒉 = 𝒉𝟏 + 𝒉𝟐 + 𝒉𝟑 +. . +𝒉𝒏
𝑯
𝑯 𝒁𝟏 𝒁𝟐 𝒁𝟑 𝒁𝒏 𝒌𝒛 𝒆𝒒 =
= + + +. . + 𝒁𝟏 𝒁 𝒁 𝒁
𝒌𝒛 𝒌𝒛𝟏 𝒌𝒛𝟐 𝒌𝒛𝟑 𝒌𝒛𝟒 + 𝟐 + 𝟑 +. . + 𝒏
𝒆𝒒 𝒌𝒛𝟏 𝒌𝒛𝟐 𝒌𝒛𝟑 𝒌𝒛𝟒
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 Advanced soil mechanics

References
1. Braja M. Das. Principles of geotechnical Engineering. PWS-KENT
Publishing Company, 1990

2. Gopal Ranjan, and A.S.R. Rao, Basic and Applied Soil Mechanics. New
Age International, 2000.

3. Muniram Budhu. Soil Mechanics and Foundations. John Wiley & Sons,
2010.

4. Robert D. Holtz, William D. Kovacs, and Thomas C. Sheahan. An

Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson, 2011.

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