Lab Report on

Soil Permeability
By: Abdulla Almuhaizaa

101234

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LABORATORY RULES AND REGULATIONS
Personal Safety – Dress and Safety Equipment

• Always use appropriate safety apparel and equipment (Laboratory coats).

• No loose clothing or jewelry around operating equipment
• Wear safety goggles when operating equipment or mixing chemicals
• Wear safety shoes and do not wear open toe shoes or sandal in operating laboratories
• Use head protection where danger of falling objects or electrical shock is present

Laboratory Behavior

• Do not engage in horseplay or unsafe activities

• Always report injuries (even if slight) to instructor or lab coordinator
• Do not operate equipment or carry-on experiments unless you have received proper/correct
usage instructions
• “Trial and error” is not the way to learn equipment operation
• Inform instructor or lab coordinator of recognized hazards, dangerous conditions,
malfunctioning equipment, and instruments
• Clear away the rubbish and clean up the work area and apparatus provided for each experiment
after use
• Exercise extreme care when handling sharp-pointed or sharp-edged tools

Operating Equipment

• Must receive instructions on proper equipment use before operating any equipment
• Read and understand Code of Safe Practices for equipment operation
• Do not leave equipment unattended while in the operating condition
• Do not talk with or distract equipment operator while equipment is turned on
• Do not use defective equipment-Notify Instructor or Lab Coordinator immediately
• If equipment malfunctions, move out of harm’s way, then turn off equipment, only if this can be
accomplished in a safe manner
• Make sure that movable (rolling) equipment is properly stored

Laboratory Facilities

• Locate and read emergency egress plans for Room/Building (Evacuation Routes)
• Determine the location of room exits and Fire Alarm Pull Boxes
• Locate First Aid Kit and Fire Extinguisher
• Keep room clean of clutter and debris with unobstructed exits
• Make sure that work areas are properly ventilated, illuminated, and free of debris and hazards
• Storage areas shall be kept well organized, orderly, and sanitary
• Work surfaces and floors must be kept dry and slip resistant

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ABSTRACT
Soil permeability experiments can be extremely useful to determine the rate of settlement of a
saturated soil. It is one of the most important soil properties to geotechnical engineers as for instance,
the designs of dams are heavily influenced by the soil’s ability to permit water through its voids. These
experiments are important to dictate the stability of slopes and retaining structures, as well as dealing
with difficulties in pumping seepage water out of construction excavation sites. The experiment was
conducted to determine the permeability of a specimen of soil through two tests. Constant head and
falling head permeability tests.

INTRODUCTION
Permeability in soils is characterized by the permeability coefficient K. Generally, there are two
laboratory methods to determine the permeability coefficient, and these are constant head
permeability test, which is mainly used for coarse-grained soils. And Falling head permeability test,
which is used for fine-grained soil. Both methods were tested to determine the permeability of two
different specimens of soil.

AIM
The aim is to find the permeability coefficient k of both specimens under the assumption of the validity
of Darcy’s law using the constant head permeability test and the falling head permeability test.

REFERENCE
The standard that was used is (BS EN ISO 17892-11:2019)

Apparatus
For the constant head permeability test, these tools were used:

• Scoop
• Stopwatch
• Beaker
• Tamping rod
• Electronic balance
• Constant head permeability cell

For the falling head permeability test, these tools were used:

• Scoop
• Stopwatch
• Tamping rod
• Falling head permeability apparatus

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As for the apparatus, a pipe system that starts with a water pump that controls the water flowing
through the specimen in a constant/falling head cell (figure 2). The water goes through two water tanks,
each tanks outlet is controlled by valves to simulate a constant or falling head flow of water, the water
then goes through the cell that is connected to two manometers to define head loss. The figure below
(figure 1) shows an apparatus similar to the one used in the experiment.

1) Constant-head filter tank (NTC)

2) Filter tank valve

3) Inlet valve

4) Top plate

5) Porous disc or screen

6) Screened manometer groove

7) Spring

8) Manometer valve

9) Manometer tubes

10) Metal or transparent acrylic plastic cylinder

11) Manometer outlet

Figure 1 (Civil Enigineering, n.d.)
12) Screen

13) Tap water valve

14) Outlet valve

15) Gravel filter

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Figure 2 (Controls, n.d.)

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PROCEDURE

Constant head permeability test:

• Remove the collar and measure the internal dimensions of the cylinder mold.
• Fill the cylinder mold with soil sample and compact it in 3 layers which can represent the field
condition.
• Trim the excess soil sample.
• Place the cylinder mold with soil sample to the constant head permeability apparatus.
• Connect the pipe from the constant head reservoir/tank to the inlet.
• The bottom outlet is opened, and steady flow is established.
• The quantity of the flow can be collected using the beaker for a particular time interval.
• Record the volume of water collected.
• Record the time in seconds.
• Measure the head difference between two manometers.
• Repeat the procedures five (5) times.

Falling head permeability test:

• Fill the cylinder mold with fine grained soil sample.
• Compact the soil in 3 (three) layers that can represent the field condition.
• Trim off the excess soil sample.
• Connect the cylinder mold with soil sample to the falling head permeability apparatus by
connecting the pipe to the inlet.
• Saturate the soil with water.
• Once the water is coming out of the outlet, proceed with the next steps. But if there are bubbles
coming out from the outlet, gradually add water to the water tank.
• Make sure that the water in the pipe falls to the level that can be measured.
• Using a stopwatch, record the time in seconds for the water to drop at a certain level.
• Record the initial and the final level.
• Repeat the procedures five (5) times.

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Results
Constant head permeability test
For constant head permeability test, the following were measured:

Sample diameter: 80 (mm)

Distance between piezometer’s tapping (l): 50 (mm)

The following table (Table 1) shows the data recorded, and they were Manometer A, Manometer B,
Time (t), and volume of water collected (Q):

Table 1

Manometer A Manometer B t Q
Test
(mm) (mm) (s) (ml)

1 420 390 38.32 155

2 500 490 109 115

3 365 328 38.6 200

4 344 296 38.7 220

5 324 281 18.2 130

From this data, the following were determined in Table 2 through the calculations shown below for each
test:

Head loss (h)

Hydraulic gradient (i)

Volume of water collected in mm3 (Q)

Discharge (q)

Discharge velocity (V)

Coefficient of permeability (K)

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Sample calculations for test 1:

80
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 (𝐴𝐴) = 𝜋𝜋𝑟𝑟 2 = 𝜋𝜋 × ( )2 = 5026.55 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2
2

𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 (ℎ) = 𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀 𝐴𝐴 − 𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀 𝐵𝐵 = 420 − 320 = 30 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

ℎ 30
𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝑐𝑐 𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔 (𝑖𝑖) = = = 0.6
𝑙𝑙 50

𝑄𝑄 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚3 = 𝑄𝑄 × 103 = 155 × 103 = 155000 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚3

𝑄𝑄 155000
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 (𝑞𝑞) = = = 4044.89 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚3 /𝑠𝑠
𝑡𝑡 38.32

𝑞𝑞 4044.89
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣 (𝑉𝑉) = = = 0.805 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚⁄𝑠𝑠
𝐴𝐴 5026.55

𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄 155 × 50
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 (𝑘𝑘) = = = 1.34 × 10−3 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚/𝑠𝑠
𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡ℎ 38.32 × 5026.55 × 30

𝐾𝐾𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = � 𝑘𝑘 ÷ 5 = 1.32 × 10−3 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚/𝑠𝑠

𝑚𝑚
𝑘𝑘𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝑘𝑘𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 × 10−3 = 1.32 × 10−6 𝑚𝑚/𝑠𝑠
𝑠𝑠

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 Table 2

h Q q V K kavg kavg
Test i
(mm) (mm3) (mm3/s) (mm/s) (mm/s) (mm/s) (m/s)

1 30 0.6 155000 4044.885 0.804704 1.34 × 10-3

2 10 0.2 115000 1055.046 0.209895 1.05 × 10-3

3 37 0.74 200000 5181.347 1.030796 1.39 × 10-3 1.32 × 10-3 1.32 × 10-6

4 48 0.96 220000 5684.755 1.130946 1.18 × 10-3

5 43 0.86 130000 7142.857 1.421026 1.65 × 10-3

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Falling head permeability test
For falling head permeability test, the following were measured:

Sample diameter: 100 (mm)

Sample length (l): 140 (mm)

Standpipe diameter: 3.5 (mm)

The following table (Table 3) shows the data recorded, and those are Time (t), Initial height (ho), and
final height (hf).
Table 3

Test 1 2 3 4 5

t
32 43 49 52 59
(s)
ho
800 750 700 650 600
(mm)
hf
750 700 650 600 550
(mm)

From the data recorded, coefficient of permeability k was determined in Table 4, through the following
calculations:

Sample calculations for test 1:

100 2
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 (𝐴𝐴) = 𝜋𝜋𝑟𝑟 2 = 𝜋𝜋 × � � = 7853.98 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2
2
3.5 2
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 (𝑎𝑎) = 𝜋𝜋𝑟𝑟 2 = 𝜋𝜋 × � � = 9.62 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2
2
ℎ𝑜𝑜 800
2.3 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 × log � � 2.3 × 9.62 × 140 × log �700�
ℎ𝑓𝑓
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 (𝑘𝑘) = =
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 7853.98 × 32
= 3.54 × 10−1 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚/𝑠𝑠

𝑘𝑘𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = � 𝑘𝑘 ÷ 5 = 0.615 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚/𝑠𝑠

𝑘𝑘𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑚𝑚⁄𝑠𝑠 = 𝑘𝑘𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 × 10−3 = 0.615 × 10−3 = 0.000615 𝑚𝑚/𝑠𝑠

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Table 4

Test 1 2 3 4 5

k
0.354 0.508 0.622 0.713 0.879
(mm/s)
k
0.000354 0.000508 0.000622 0.000713 0.000879
(m/s)
kavg
0.615
(mm/s)
kavg
0.000615
(m/s)

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DISCUSSIONS

Darcy’s law states that the principle which governs the movement of fluid in the given substance. It
states that the rate of flow of water through a cross-sectional area is found to be proportional to the
hydraulic gradient. We can apply Darcy’s law in a steady-state one dimensional flow, where the flow
rate remains constant over time. From the data collected and calculated in table 2 and table 4, we can
view and validate Darcy’s law in that instance, that of which both experiments were done in a one-
dimensional flow.

CONCLUSION

The constant head permeability test and the falling head permeability test were conducted on a sample
of soil that was classified in a previous laboratory session. All data were recorded and analyzed in
Table1, Table 2, Table 3 and Table 4. The findings were used in collaboration with class notes, lab
manuals and online research. The average permeability coefficient k was found to be 1.32 ✕ 10-6 for
the constant head permeability test, and 6.15 ✕ 10-4 for the falling head permeability test. It is
important to obtain the coefficient of permeability to understand how a specific soil will react to the
influence of water flowing through its voids to determine the design of a structures such as dams. The
assumption of the validity of Darcy’s law was also proved.

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References
Arora, K. R. (2008). Soil Mechanics And Foundation Engineering. STANDARD PUBLISHER DIST.

BYJU's. (n.d.). Darcy's Law. Retrieved from byju's: https://byjus.com/physics/darcys-law/

Civil Enigineering. (n.d.). Permeability (Constant Head Test). Retrieved from Civil Engineering:
https://www.civil-engineering-calculators.com/Soil-Test/Permeability-By-Constant-Head-Test-
Calculator

Controls. (n.d.). Constant Head Permeability Apparatus. Retrieved from Controls: https://www.controls-
group.com/eng/soil-permebility/constant-head-permeability-apparatus.php

Science Direct. (2018). Soil permeability. Retrieved from ScienceDirect:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/soil-permeability

Science Direct. (n.d.). Darcy's law. Retrieved from ScienceDirect: https://byjus.com/physics/darcys-law/

The constructor. (n.d.). Factors affecting permeability of soil. Retrieved from The constructor:
https://theconstructor.org/geotechnical/factors-affecting-soil-permeability/29563/

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