APPLICATION OF GROUNDWATER
FLOW
Ir. Iwan Kridasantausa Ph.D
DARCY’S LAW
The movement of groundwater is well established
by hydraulic principles (Henry Darcy, 1856)
Bernoulli equation :
p1 v12 p2 v22
z1 z2 h1
2g 2g
Where :
p : pressure
: specific weight of water
v : velocity
z : elevation
h1 : head loss
Because velocities are very small in porous
media, velocity heads may be neglected, so :
p p
h1 1 z1 2 z2
Darcy related flow rate to head loss and length of
column through a proportionality constant as K
(hydraulic conductivity), a measure of the
permeability of the porous media, so :
Q dh
V K
A dL
Known as DARCY LAW’S
The negative sign indicates that flow of water is
in the direction of decreasing head
Darcy velocity : Q
Vs
nA
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY
Hydraulic conductivity (K) express in m/day (ft/day)
Transmissivity (T) is a term often used in ground
water hydraulics as applied to confined aquifer and
express in m/day or ft/day
Intrinsic permeability of a rock soil (k) is a property
of the medium only, independent of fluid properties,
and express as : K
k
Where : g
: dynamic viscosity
: fluid density
g : gravitational constant
K has unit of m2 or darcy, equal to 0,987 (m)2
PROPERTIES OF SOIL
Natural soils consist of solid material, water and
air
Porosity (n) is the volume of the pores per unit
total volume
The degree of saturation (Sr) is the volume of the
water in the pores per unit total pore volume (with
value : 0-1)
Compressibility value are 10-8 to 10-7 m2/N for sand
and 10-7 to 10-6 m2/N for clay
PROPERTIES OF WATER
Density of water () is about 1000 kg/m3
The density may vary with pressure,
temperature and the concentration of dissolved
material (salt, etc)
Unit weight () is multiplaying density () by the
gravity constant g ( 9.81 m/s2)
Dynamic viscosity for water is about 10-3 kg/m
The kinematic viscosity () about 10-6 m2/s
The compressibility () for water is about 0.5 x
10-9 m2/N
BASIC EQUATION FOR STEADY FLOW (1)
Darcy’s Law h1 h2 h
Q kA kA
L L
Where : Q = flow rate; k = hydraulic conductivity;
A = cross-sectional area; L = length of the sand
filter flow path; (h1-h2) = head drop
If the specific discharge q is defined as Q/A one
now obtain, when passing to the limit L0, so :
h
q v k
L
Where v = discharge velocity
It should be noted that average velocity of the
water is Q/nA > specific discharge (q)
BASIC EQUATION FOR STEADY FLOW (2)
Permeability () n 3
cd 2
(1 n) 2
n : porosity of the soil
d : some mean particle size
clay : 10-17 to 10-15
silt : 10-15 to 10-13
sand : 10-12 to 10-10
gravel : 10-9 to 10-8
Anisotropy
Continuity equation
DERIVING GROUNDWATER FLOW
EQUATION (1)
Principle of Mass Darcy Law’s
Conservation
Groundwater Flow
Equation
DERIVING GROUNDWATER FLOW EQUATION (2)
THE MAIN EQUATION OF GROUNDWATER
FLOW
This is parabolic partial differential equation
It’s the main equation of groundwater flow in
saturated media
It is solvable only by numerical method
The solution of which yields h (x,y,z,t) in a
heterogeneous anisotropic confined aquifer
Also known as “diffusion equation”
SIMPLIFICATION OF EQUATION
For homogenous but anisotropic aquifer
For homogenous and isotropic
For horizontal flow
Steady state flow
LAPLACE EQUATION
One of the most useful field equation employed in
hydrogeology
For steady state equation only boundary
condition are needed
Types of boundary condition :
Dirichlet boundary condition specified head at a
boundary
Neumann bondary condition specified water flux
at a boundary
Cauchy bondary condition relates hydraulic head
to water flux
GRAPHICAL SOLUTION OF STEADY-STATE FLOW
EQ : TECHNIQUE OF FLOW NET
1. Flow Net in Isotropic Soil
Originates from Darcy’s Law
h
q K (d m x1) 1
dl h
h
Where h1 h2 and nd
So : q K dm h (one flow channel)
dl nd
For nf such channels :
n f dm
q K h dm dl, so :
nd dl
nf
q Kh [ L2T 1 ]
nd
Where :
q : rate of flow or seepage per unit weight
nf : number of flow channels
nd : number of equipotential drops
h : total head loss in flow system
K : hydraulic conductivity
Since each potential line indicates the available head, the uplift
pressure at the base of the structure can be given :
n
u h Z w [ FL2 ]
nd
Where :
u : uplift water pressure
n : number of the equipotential line counting last line on the
downstream as zero
nd : number of potential drops
h : total head loss in flow system
Z : depth of the base below the datum
PROCEDURE TO DRAW A FLOW NET
Equipotential lines cross flow lines at a right
angle
Shapes formed by equipotential and flow lines
should be as close to square as possible
Impermeable boundaries are flow lines
The soil-water interface at upstream and
downstream of a structure is an equipotential
line
The seepage surface is a flow line
2. Flow Net in Anisotropic Soil
Because Kx ≠ Kz, the procedure as follow :
Transform all horizontal dimensions
into notional dimensions using :
x' x K z / K x [ L]
Where :
x : natural horizontal dimensions
x’ : notional horizontal dimensions
Draw the cross section of the structure
in natural vertical dimensions and
notional (disorted) horizontal
dimensions, to a convenient scale
Sketch the flow net as usual
Deternime the rate of flow using :
nf
q K x K z h [ L2T 1 ]
nd
ANALITICAL SOLUTION OF THE STEADY-
STATE REGION
1) Confined Groundwater Flow between Two Water
Bodies
h0 h
q KD [ L2T 1 ]
x
2) Unconfined Flow between Two Water Bodies
h0 h
q KD [ L2T 1 ]
x
Where D is average thickness of the aquifer
3) Confined Flow to a Well
Q R
H h ln [ L]
2bK r
Where :
H : piezometric head at radial distance R
h : piezometric head at any distance r
Q : discharge from the well
b : thickness of confined aquifer
bK : transmissivity of aquifer
4) Unconfined Flow to a Well
Q R
H h
2 2
ln
K r
5) Travel time of Groundwater
D
t (R2 r 2 )
Q
Where :
t : time of travel from R to r
r : any radial distance
R : radial distance at the boundary from where the time of travel to be computed
D : thickness of the confined aquifer, b, or average saturated thickness between
radial distance R and r
: porosity
WELL FLOW NEAR BOUNDARIES : THEORY
OF IMAGES
Well near a stream Q y 2 ( a x) 2
1)
s ln 2 [ L]
4bK y (a x) 2
Where :
a = horizontal distance of the well from the stream
x,y = coordinates of the point where drawdown is desired (the head is h)
2) Weel near an impermeable boundary
2Kbs
Q
ln( R 2 / r1r2 ) Where R = radius of influence or
boundary of the island
THANK YOU
