Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering

Chapter Three

One-Dimensional Flow of Water through Soils

3. Introduction.........................................................................................................................2
3.1 Definitions of key Terms..................................................................................................2
3.2 Groundwater........................................................................................................................2
3.3 Head........................................................................................................................................2
3.4 Darcy’s Law..........................................................................................................................4
3.5 Empirical Relationships for k.........................................................................................5
3.6 Flow Parallel to Soil Layers.............................................................................................7
3.7 Flow Normal to Soil Layers.............................................................................................8
3.8 Determination of the Coefficient of Permeability...................................................9
3.8.1 Constant-Head Test.......................................................................................................9
3.8.2 Falling-Head Test..........................................................................................................10
3.8.3 Pumping Test to Determine the Coefficient of Permeability........................12

Soil Mechanics I: Lecture Notes Instructor: Dr. Hadush Seged

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering

3. Introduction

In chapter 2, we have discussed particle sizes and index properties and

used these to classify soils. You know that water changes the soil states in fine-
grained soils; the greater the water content in the soil the weaker it is (IL
increases). Soils are porous materials much like sponges. Water can flow between
the interconnected voids. Particle sizes and structural arrangement of the particles
influence the rate of flow. In table 2.7, you should have noticed that one of the
important soil properties is permeability. In this chapter, we will discuss soil
permeability by considering one-dimensional flow of water through soils. When you
complete this chapter you should be able to:

 Determine the rate of flow of water through soils.

3.1 Definitions of key Terms

Groundwater is water under gravity in excess of that required to fill the soil pores.
Head (H) is the mechanical energy per unit weight.
Coefficient of permeability (k) is a proportionality constant to determine the
flow velocity of water through soils.

3.2 Groundwater

We will be discussing gravitational flow of water under a steady state

condition. You may ask: “What is a steady state condition?” Gravitational flow can
only occur if there is a gradient. Flow takes place downhill. The steady state flow
occurs if neither the flow nor the pore water pressures change with time. Pore
water pressure is the water pressure within the voids.
If you dig a hole into a soil mass that has all the voids filled with water (fully
saturated), you will observe water in the hole up to a certain level. This water level
is called groundwater level or groundwater table and exists under a hydrostatic
condition. A hydrostatic condition occurs when the flow is zero. The top of the
groundwater level is under atmospheric pressure. We will denote the groundwater
table by the symbol ▼.

3.3 Head

Darcy’s law governs the flow of water through soils. But before we delve into
Darcy’s law, we will discuss an important principle in fluid mechanics – Bernoulli’s

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principle – which is essential in understanding flow through soils.

If you cap one end of a tube, fill the tube with water, and then rest it on your
table (Fig. 3.1), the height of water with reference to your table is called the
pressure head (hP).

Figure 3.1: Illustration of elevation and pressure heads.

Head refers to the mechanical energy per unit weight. If you raise the tube above
the table, the mechanical energy or total head increases. You now have two
components of total head – the pressure head (hp) and the elevation head (hz). If
water were to flow through the tube with a velocity , under steady state condition,
then we have an additional head due to the velocity given as . The total head

(sometimes called piezometric head), H, according to Bernoulli’s principle is:

(3.1)

The elevation or potential head is referenced to an arbitrary datum and the

total head will change depending on the choice of the datum position. Therefore, it
is essential that you identify your datum position in solutions to flow problems.
Pressures are defined relative to atmospheric pressure. The velocity of flow through
soils is generally small (< 1 cm/s) and we usually neglect the velocity head. The
total head in soils is then

(3.2)

where u = whp is the pore water pressure.

Consider a cylinder containing a soil mass with water flowing through it at a
constant rate as depicted in Fig. 3.2. If we connect two tubes, A and B, called
piezometers, at a distance l apart, the water will rise to different heights in each of

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Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering

the tubes. The height of water in tube B near the exit is lower than A. Why? As the
water flows through the soil, energy is dissipated through friction with the soil
particles, resulting in a loss of head. The head loss between A and B, assuming
decrease in head is positive and our datum is arbitrarily selected at the top of the
cylinder, is ΔH = .

Figure 3.2: Head loss due to flow of water through soil.

3.4 Darcy’s Law

Darcy (1856) proposed that average flow velocity through soils is

proportional to the gradient of the total head. The flow in any direction, j, is

(3.3)

where v is the average flow velocity, k is a coefficient of proportionality called the

coefficient of permeability or hydraulic conductivity, and dH is the change in total
head over a distance dx. The unit of measurement for k is length/time, that is,
cm/s. With reference to Fig. 3.2, Darcy’s law becomes

(3.4)

where is the hydraulic gradient. Darcy’s law is valid for all soils if the flow

is laminar (Reynolds number < 1).

The average velocity, v, calculated from Eq. (3.4) is for the cross-sectional
area normal to the direction of flow. Flow through soils, however, happens only
through the interconnected voids. The velocity through the void spaces is called the
seepage velocity (vs) and is obtained by dividing the average velocity by the
porosity of the soil:

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(3.5)

The volume rate of flow, qv, or, simply, flow rate is the product of the average
velocity and the cross-sectional area:

(3.6)

The unit of measurement for q v is m3/s or cm3/s. The conservation of flow (law of
continuity) stipulates that the volume rate of inflow (qv)in into a soil element must
equal the volume rate of outflow, (qv)out, or, simply, inflow must equal outflow: (qv)in
= (qv)out.

The coefficient of permeability depends on the soil type, the particle size
distribution, the structural arrangement of the grains or void ratio, and the
wholeness (homogeneity, layering, fissuring, etc) of the soil mass. Typical value
ranges of kz for various soil types are shown in Table 2.7.

Table 3.1: Coefficient of permeability for common soil types

Soil type kz (cm/s)

Clean gravel > 1.0

Clean sands, clean sand and gravel mixtures 1.0 to 10-3
Fine sands, silts, mixtures comprising sands, silts, and clays 10-3 to 10-7
Homogeneous clays < 10-7

Homogeneous clays are practically impervious. Two popular uses of

“impervious” clays are in dam construction to curtail the flow of water through the
dam and as barriers in landfills to prevent migration of effluent to the surrounding
area. Clean sands and gravels are pervious and can be used as drainage materials
or soil filters.

3.5 Empirical Relationships for k

For a homogeneous soil, the coefficient of permeability depends

predominantly on its void ratio. You should recall that the void ratio is dependent on
the soil fabric and structural arrangement of the soil grains. A number of empirical
relationships have been proposed linking k to void ratio and grain size for coarse-
grained soils. Hazen (1930) proposed one of the early relationships as:

(2.31)

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where C is a constant varying between 0.4 and 1.2 if the unit of measurement of
D10 (effective diameter) is mm. Typically, C = 1.0. Other relationships were
proposed for coarse and fine-grained soils by Samarasinghe et al. (1982), Kenny et
al. (1984), and others. One has to be extremely cautious in using empirical
relationships for k because it is very sensitive to changes in void ratio and the
wholeness of your soil mass.

EXAMPLE 3.1

A soil sample 10 cm in diameter is placed in a tube 1 m long. A constant supply of

water is allowed to flow into one end of the soil at A and the outflow at B is
collected by a beaker (Fig. E3.1). The average amount of water collected is 1 cm 3
for every 10 seconds. The tube is inclined as shown in Fig. 3.1. Determine the (a)
hydraulic gradient, (b) flow rate, (c) average velocity, (d) seepage velocity, if e =
0.6, and (e) coefficient of permeability.

Figure E3.1

Strategy: For flow problems, you must define a datum position. So your first task
is to define the datum position and then find the difference in total head between A
and B. Use the head difference to calculate the hydraulic gradient and use Eqs. (3.4
to 3.6) to solve the problem.

EXAMPLE 3.2

A drainage pipe (Fig. E3.2) became completely blocked during a storm by a plug of
sand, 1.5 m long, followed by another plug of a mixture of clays, silts, and sands,
0.5 m long. When the storm was over, the water level above ground was 1 m. The
coefficient of permeability of the sand is 2 times that of the mixture of clays, silts,
and sands.

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(a) Plot the variation of pressure, elevation, and total head over the length of the
pipe.
(b) Calculate the pore water pressure at (1) the center of the sand plug and (2)
the center of the mixture of clays, silts, and sands.
(c) Find the average hydraulic gradients in the sand and in the mixture of clays,
silts and sands.

Figure E3.2a: Illustration of blocked drainage pipe.

Strategy: You need to select a datum. From the information given, you can
calculate the total head at A and B. The difference in head is the head loss over
both plugs but you do not know how much head is lost in the sand and in the
mixture of clays, silts, and sands. The continuity equation provides the key to
finding the head loss over each plug.

3.6 Flow Parallel to Soil Layers

When the flow is parallel to the soil layer (Fig. 3.2), the hydraulic gradient is
the same at all points. The flow through the soil mass as a whole is equal to the
sum of the flow through each of the layers. There is a similarity here with the flow
of electricity through resistors in parallel. If we consider a unit width (in the y
direction) of flow and use Eq. (3.6), we obtain,
(3.6)
where H0 is the total thickness of the soil mass, kx(eq) is the equivalent permeability
in the horizontal (x) direction, z1 to zn are the thickness of the first to the nth layers,

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and kx1 to kxn are the horizontal permeabilities of first to the nth layer. Solving Eq.
(3.6) for kx(eq), we get,

(3.7)

Fig. 3.2: Flow through stratified layers.

3.7 Flow Normal to Soil Layers

For flow normal to the soil layers, the head loss in the soil mass is the sum of
the head losses in each layer:
(3.8)

where ΔH is the total head loss, and Δh1 to Δhn are the head losses in each of the n
layers. The velocity in each layer is the same. The analogy to electricity is flow of
current through resistors in series. From Darcy’s law, we obtain

(3.9)

where kz(eq) is the equivalent permeability in the vertical (z) direction and kz1 to kzn
are the vertical permeabilities of the first to the nth layer. Solving Eqs. (3.8 and 3.9)
leads to

(3.10)

Values of kz(eq) are generally less than kx(eq) – sometimes as much as 10 times less.

EXAMPLE 3.3

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Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering

A canal is cut into a soil with a stratigraphy shown in Fig. E3.3. Assuming flow takes
place laterally and vertically through the sides of the canal and vertically below the
canal, determine the equivalent permeability in the horizontal and vertical
directions. Calculate the ratio of the equivalent horizontal permeability to the
equivalent vertical permeability for flow through the sides of the canal.

Fig. E3.3

Strategy: Use Eqs. (3.7 and 3.10) to find the equivalent horizontal and vertical
permeabilities over the depth of the canal (3 m) and then use Eq. (3.10) to find the
equivalent vertical permeability below the canal. To make the calculations easier,
convert all exponential quantities to a single exponent.

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3.8 Determination of the Coefficient of Permeability

3.8.1 Constant-Head Test

Fig. 3.3: A constant-head apparatus.

The constant-head test is used to determine the coefficient of permeability of

coarse-grained soils. A typical constant-head apparatus is shown in Fig. 3.3. Water
is allowed to flow through a cylindrical sample of soil under a constant head (h).
The outflow (Q) is collected in a graduated cylinder at a convenient duration (t).
With reference to Fig. 3.2,

The flow rate through the soil is qv = Q/t, where Q is the total quantity of water
collected in the measuring cylinder over time t.
From Eq. (3.10),

(3.11)

where kz is the coefficient of permeability in the vertical direction.

The viscosity of the fluid, which is a function of temperature, influences the
value of k. The experimental value (kT0C) is corrected to a baseline temperature of
200C using

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(3.12)

0
where μ is the viscosity of water, T is the temperature in C at which the
measurement was made, and RT = μT℃/μ20℃ is the temperature correction factor
that can be calculated from,
(3.13)

3.8.2 Falling-Head Test

The falling-head test is used for fine-grained soils because the flow of water
through these soils is too slow to get reasonable measurements from the constant-
head test. A compacted soil sample or a sample extracted from the field is placed in
a metal or acrylic cylinder (Fig. 3.4).

Fig. 3.4: A constant-head apparatus.

Porous stones are positioned at the top and bottom faces of the sample to prevent
its disintegration and to allow water to percolate through it. 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. Let dh be the drop in head over a time period dt. The velocity
or rate of head loss in the tube is

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and the inflow of water to the soil is

where a is the cross-sectional area of the tube. We now appeal to Darcy’s law to get
the outflow:

where A is the cross-sectional area, L is the length of the soil sample, and h is the
head of water at any time t. The continuity condition requires that (qv)in = (qv)out.
Therefore,

By separating the variables (h and t) and integrating between that appropriate

limits, the last equation becomes,

(3.14)

EXAMPLE 3.4

A sample of sand, 5 cm in diameter and 15 cm long, was prepared at a porosity of

60% in a constant-head apparatus. The total head was kept constant at 30 cm and
the amount of water collected in 5 seconds was 40 cm 3. The test temperature was
200C. Calculate the coefficient of permeability and the seepage velocity.

Strategy: From the data given, you can readily apply Darcy’s law to find k.

EXAMPLE 3.5

The data from a falling-head test on a silty clay are

Cross-sectional area of soil = 80 cm2 Duration of test = 15 minutes

Length of soil = 10 cm Diameter of tube = 6 mm
Initial head = 90 cm Temperature = 220C

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Final head = 84 cm

Determine k.

Strategy: Since this is a falling-head test, you should use Eq. 3.14. Make sure you
are using consistent units.

3.8.3 Pumping Test to Determine the Coefficient of Permeability

One common method of determining the coefficient of permeability in the field

is by pumping water at a constant flow rate from a well and measuring the
decrease in ground water level at observation wells (Fig. 3.5).

Fig. 3.5: Layout of a pump test to determine k.

The equation, called the simple well formula, is derived using the following
assumptions.

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Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering

1. The pumping well penetrates through the water-bearing stratum and is

perforated only at the section that is below the groundwater level.
2. The soil mass is homogeneous, isotropic, and of infinite size.
3. Darcy’s law is valid.
4. Flow is radial towards the well.
5. The hydraulic gradient at any point in the water-bearing stratum is constant and
is equal to the slope of groundwater surface (Dupuit’s assumptions).
Let dz be the drop in total head over a distance dr. Then according to Dupuit’s
assumption the hydraulic gradient is

The area of flow at a radial distance r from the center of the pumping well is

where z is the thickness of an elemental volume of the pervious soil layer. From
Darcy’s law, the flow is:

We need to rearrange the above equation and integrate it between the limits r1 and
r2, and h1 and h2:

Completing the integration leads to:

(3.15)

With measurements of r1, r2, h1, h2, and qv (flow rate of the pump), k can calculated
using Eq. (3.15). This test is only practical for coarse-grained soils.
Pumping tests lower the groundwater, which then causes stress changes in the
soil. Since the groundwater is not lowered uniformly as shown in Fig. 3.5, the stress
changes in the soil will not be even. Consequently, pumping tests near existing
structures can cause them to settle unevenly. You should consider the possibilities
of differential settlement on existing structures when you plan a pumping test. Also,
it is sometimes necessary to temporarily lower the groundwater level for
construction. The process of lowering the groundwater is called dewatering.

EXAMPLE 3.6

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A pumping test has been carried out in a soil bed of thickness 15 m and the
following measurements were recorded. Rate of pumping was 10.6×10 -3 m3/s;
drawdowns in observation wells located at 15 m and 30 m from the center of the
pumping well were 1.6 m and 1.4 m, respectively, from the initial groundwater
level. The initial groundwater level was located at 1.9 m below the initial ground
level. Determine k.

Strategy: You are given all measurements to directly apply Eq. (3.15) to find k.
You should draw a sketch of the pump test to identify the values to be used in Eq.
(3.15).

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