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Interface Penetration Model Formulation for Analyzing Wall-Separation-Influenced Transient Hydraulic Conductivity Data

Dep. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Toledo, 2801 W. Bancroft St., Toledo, OH 43696

Varadhan Ravi

Dynamac Corp., Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Lab., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, P.O. Box 1198, Ada, OK 74820

*Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

Hydraulic conductivity values measured in permeameters can be influenced by the formation of preferential flow pathways that allow a significant fraction of flow to bypass the soil sample. Problems of this type are of particular concern when testing low-permeability soils with aggressive permeants because reactions increase the possibilities for preferential flow pathways to develop. A wall-separation preferential flow model is proposed based on the discrete interface penetration (DIP) modeling strategy. The formulation is specifically designed to help determine if observed transient hydraulic conductivity behavior may be attributed to soil-permeant interactions, or may have resulted from a wall separation preferential flow pathway that developed after the start of the permeameter experiment. Analytical solutions are presented for two sets of boundary conditions. Example evaluations of experimental data are presented to illustrate how these solutions could be applied. Information is also presented on model parameter estimation and sensitivity. Possible extensions of the modeling strategy to additional problems of preferential flow are also discussed.

Received for publication July 11, 1991.