INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROORKEE

PERMEABILTY

Complete--PDF

By

Dr. DEEPAK KHARE

Professor
Department of Water Resources Development and Management
This Lecture includes:

• Introduction
• Darcy’s Law
• Range of Permeability for different soils
• Superficial Velocity and Seepage Velocity
• Factors Affecting Permeability
• Permeability in Stratified/Layered Soils
• Determination Of Coefficient Of Permeability
• Constant Head Permeability Test
• Variable head permeability test
• Indirect Method: Allen Hazen Formula and Numerical
• Numerical

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PERMEABILITY

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 What is permeability?
• Property of a soil which permits the flow of water

• Permeability is defined as the property of a porous

material which permits the passage or seepage of water
through its interconnecting voids.

• It is a very important Engineering property

gravels highly permeable

stiff clay least permeable

 Permeability

Permeability is the property of the soil sample Which

permits the flow of water through it . It is denoted by ‘K’.
Gravels High Permeability
Clay least Permeability
Permeability through soil is important for the
following engineering problems:

• Calculation of uplift pressure under hydraulic structure and

their safety against piping
• Ground water flow towards wells and drainage of soil
• Calculation of seepage through the body of earth dams and
stability of slopes
• Determination of rate of settlement of a saturated
compressible soil layer
 Absolute permeability

Coefficient Of Independent of the properties

Permeability of water
It depends only on the
characteristics of soil
Depends not only on the The absolute permeability only
properties of soil but also depends on the geometry of the
on the properties of water pore-channel system.

Relative permeability is the ratio of

effective permeability of a particular fluid to its
absolute permeability.
 Henry Darcy (1803-1858), Hydraulic Engineer. His law is a
foundation stone for several fields of study

Darcy’s Law who demonstrated experimentally that for

laminar flow conditions in a saturated soil, the rate of flow
or the discharge per unit time is proportional to the hydraulic
gradient
q = vA
v = ki
q = kiA

Validity of darcy’s law - When flow is laminar

Bernouli’s Equation:

• Total Energy = Elevation Energy + Pressure Energy +

Velocity Energy

• Total Head = Elevation Head + Pressure Head +

Velocity Head 2

H = z+ v
p
+
2 g g
• Total head of water in soil engineering problems is equal to
the sum of the elevation head and the pressure head
 q = v . A = k i A = k Dh A
Water In L

Head Loss or
Head Difference or
Energy Loss
)h =hA - hB

i = Hydraulic Gradient
hA
(q)
Water
out
hB

ZA ZB

Datum
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Soil Permeability Classes

Permeability is commonly measured

in terms of the rate of water flow
through the soil in a given period of
time.
Superficial
Velocity and
Seepage
Velocity

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 Factors Affecting Permeability
1. Grain size.
2. Properties of pore water pressure.
3. Temperature.
4. Void ratio.
5. Stratification of soil.
6. Entrapped air and organic impurities.
7. Adsorbed water.
8. Degree of saturation.
9. Shape of particles.
10.Structure of soil mass.
 1. Grain size
The Permeability varies approximately as the
square of grain size
It depends on the effective diameter of the grain
size (D10) .

K=C (D10)2
K is Permeability in cm/sec .
C is constant and generally lies between 100 to 150
 2. Properties of pore fluid
Pore fluids are fluids that occupy pore spaces in
a soil or rock.
Permeability is directly proportional to the unit
weight of pore fluid and inversely proportional
to viscosity of pore fluid.
 3. Temperature
As the viscosity of the pore fluid decrease with
the temperature , permeability increases with
temperature , as unit weight of pore fluid does
not change much with change in temperature.
 4. Void ratio
Increase in the void ratio increases the area
available for flow hence permeability
increases for critical conditions.
 5. Stratification of soil
Stratified soils are those soils which are formed by
layer upon layer of the earth or dust deposited
on each other.
If the flow is parallel to the layers of stratification ,
the permeability is max. while the flow in
Perpendicular direction occur with min.
permeability.
6.Entrapped air and organic impurities
The organic impurities and entrapped air
obstruct the flow and coefficient of
permeability is reduce due to their presence.
 7. Adsorbed Water
Adsorbed Water means a thin microscopic film
of water surrounding individual soil grains
This water is not free to move and hence
reduces the effective pore space an thus
decreases coefficient of permeability .
 8. Degree of saturation
The permeability of partially saturated soil is less
than that of fully saturated soil.
 9. Shape of particles
Permeability is inversely proportional to specific
surface e.g. as angular soil have more specific
surface area compared to the round soil
therefore, the soil with angular particles is less
permeable than soil of rounded particles.
 10. Structure of soil mass
For same void ratio the permeability is more for
flocculent structure as compared to the
dispended structure
 Permeability in Stratified Soils

Flow parallel to the plans of stratification

q = kiA
q = k xiH = (k1H1 + k2 H 2 +  kn H n )i
k1H1 + k2 H 2 +  kn H n
kx =
H

Flow normal to the plans of stratification

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 Determination Of Coefficient Of
Permeability

Capillarity-
Laboratory Indirect Methods permeability Test
Methods Field Methods

Pumping-out Test
Constant-head
Computation From
Permeability Test
The Particle Size
Pumping-in Test

Variable-head From Consolidation

Permeability Test Test Data
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 Constant Head Permeability Test

• Quantity of water that flows under a given hydraulic gradient

through a soil sample of known length & cross sectional area in a
given time
• Water is allowed to flow through the cylindrical sample of soil
under a constant head
• For testing of pervious, coarse grained soils
QL
k=
Aht
K = Coefficient of permeability
Q = total quantity of water
t = time
L = Length of the coarse soil
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 Variable head permeability test
• Relatively for less permeable soils
• Water flows through the sample from a standpipe attached
to the top of the cylinder.
• The head of water (h) changes with time as flow occurs
through the soil. At different times the head of water is
recorded.
2.30aL h1
k= log10
At h2
t = time
L = Length of the fine soil
A = cross section area of soil
a= cross section area of tube
K = Coefficient of permeability
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 By Indirect Method

Allen hazen’s formula Loudon’s formula

k = cD10
2
log10 ( kS 2 ) = a + bn
Kozeny carman equation
Consolidation test data
g w e 3
k=
(Cs S 2 )T 2 1 + e k = Cv wmv

constants.,a= 1.365
b=5.15
c=value b/w 100 & 150
T= Tortuosity
S = surface area
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