ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF SOILS

By
Dr. T. Thyagaraj
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Chennai – 600 036
Engineering Properties of Soils

 Shear strength
 Consolidation
 Permeability
 Permeability
 Permeability of a soil is a property which describes
quantitatively, the ease with which water flows
through that soil i.e. the interconnected voids.

water

Loose soil Dense soil

- easy to flow - difficult to flow
- high permeability - low permeability
Knowledge of permeability is essential in
engineering problems:
 Design of engineering works where
seepage of water is involved (hydraulic
structures etc.)
 Rate of consolidation of compressible soils
 Subgrade drainage
 Design of clay liners
 Darcy’s Law
v = ki
where k = coefficient of permeability
i = hydraulic gradient

Seepage Velocity and Discharge

velocity

v = n vs
 Measurement of Permeability
 Laboratory methods
- Constant head test
- Falling head test

 Field methods For fully

- Pumping-in-tests saturated
- Pumping-out-tests soils

 Indirect methods
- Empirical approach
- From consolidation data
For
 Capillarity-permeability tests unsaturated
soils
 Laboratory Permeability Tests
Constant Head Falling Head

aL  h1 
QL kT  2.303 log10  
kT  At
hAt  h2 
Schematic of a) constant head test; b) Falling head test
 Types of Permeability Cells
 Rigid wall permeameters
- Compaction mould permeameters
- Consolidation cell permeameters
- Sampling tube permeameter
- Over sized permeameter
- Double ring permeameter
 Flexible wall permeameters
Compaction Mould
Permeameter

Side Wall Leakage

Oversized Permeameter
Double Ring Permeameter

To detect side wall Leakage

Flexible wall Permeameter

Eliminates Side Wall Leakage

Flexible wall Permeameter
Flexible Wall Permeameter
 Rigid Wall Permeameter
Advantage
Simple construction and
operation
Low cost of cell
Very large permeameters
possible
Wide range of materials
Zero vertical stress can be
applied if desired
Disadvantage
Side wall leakage
No control over horizontal
stress
Cannot confirm saturation
via B-value check
Back pressure saturation not
possible
 Flexible Wall Permeameter
Advantage
Back pressure saturation is
possible
B-value check confirmation
of saturation
Principal stresses can be
controlled
Side wall leakage is highly
unlikely
Faster testing times
Disadvantage
High equipment cost
Requires cell, back and
effluent pressure
Chemical compatibility
problems
Difficult to perform test
 Measurement of Horizontal
Permeability, kh

Al-Tabba and Wood (1987) –

Modified oedometer for
measurement of horizontal
permeability
a) Drainage path for radial drainage during consolidation
b) Drainage path for radial flow during head permeability
tests
 Capillarity-Permeability Test

(h1  hc )
vk
x
dx K u (h1  hc )
vs  
dt Sn x

x22  x12 2ku (h1  hc )


t 2  t1 Sn
ku andhc
x32  x22 2ku (h2  hc )

t3  t 2 Sn
 Field Tests for Permeability
 Expensive
 More reliable
 Avoids difficulties involved in obtaining
undisturbed samples

1. Pumping-out tests
- homogeneous, coarse grained soils
2. Pumping in tests
- k of an individual layer
- gives k just close to the hole
Unconfined Flow Pumping Out
Test

q log10 r2 / r1 
k  2.303

 h22  h12 
Confined Flow Pumping Out Test

q log10 r2 / r1 
k  2.303

2D h2  h1 
Pumping-in Tests- Open-End Tests

USBR (1961)
q
k
5.5rh
 Pumping-in Tests- Packer Tests

USBR (1961)
q L
k log forL  10r
2Lh r
q 1 L
k sinh for10r  L  r
2Lh 2r
 Typical values of permeability, and methods to determine
the coefficient of permeability (after Holtz and Kovacs 1981)
Thank You