Saturated flow properties of different soil-sand systems as related to their particle- and micropore-size distributions: a comparative study
2006
Aringhieri, Roberto
It is known that soil's hydraulic conductivity or permeability is strictly related to many physical properties fundamental for the use and management of the soil. However, limited information is available on the relations between microporosity and hydraulic properties of the soil. An investigation has been carried out on different soil-sand systems to evaluate and correlate their flow properties (i.e., saturated hydraulic conductivity, and permeability), to the particle- and micropore-size distributions of the soils. Both saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ksat, and permeability, ksat, were calculated applying a model which characterizes the process of either steady-state or nonsteady-state saturated flow through the soil- or clay-sand systems when in the presence of variations in the intrinsic permeability of the solid matrix during percolation (). Particle- and micropore-size distributions and the specific surface area of the soils were then related to the parameters characterizing the saturated flow. Under these conditions, the results showed an exponential decrease in the hydraulic conductivity or permeability of the system by increasing the percentage of the finest size-grade particles present in the soil. The reduction in the permeability of the system, ksat, was also exponentially related to an increase of either specific surface area or the maximum contribution to the total microporosity of the soil, (ΔvP/ΔrP)max, which is largely due to pores of about 20 Å effective pore radius, rP.
显示更多 [+] 显示较少 [-]