Abstract
Laboratory apparatuses for the analysis of infiltration and runoff enable studies under controlled environments and at reduced costs. Unfortunately, the design and construction of such systems are complex and face difficulties associated with the scale factor. This paper presents the design, construction, and evaluation of a portable rainfall and runoff simulator. The apparatus allows the evaluation of unsaturated soils with and without vegetation cover, under a wide range of simulation scenarios. The apparatus also enables the control of the intensity, size, and uniformity of simulated raindrops for variable surface slope, specimen thickness, and length conditions. The monitoring of the volumetric water content and matric suction and a rigorous computation of water balance are ensured. The obtained results indicate that the automated rainfall generator produces raindrops with Christiansen uniformity coefficients higher than 70%, and with an adequate distribution of raindrop sizes under a range of rainfall intensities between 86.0 and 220.0 mm h−1. The ideal rainfall generator conditions were established for a relatively small area equal to or lower than 1.0 m2 and considering rainfall events with return periods of 10 to 100 years.
Highlights
The in situ analysis of natural rainfall and associated hydrological and geotechnical phenomena is a major challenge because the variables that characterize natural rainfall cannot be controlled under such circumstances [1,2,3]
runoff simulators (RSs) enable the evaluation of water runoff and infiltration in soils with or without vegetation cover
The objective of this paper is to present a new portable RS, which was idealized and designed based on computer-based numerical studies presented by Mendes et al [15] and to verify its performance
Summary
The in situ analysis of natural rainfall and associated hydrological and geotechnical phenomena is a major challenge because the variables that characterize natural rainfall cannot be controlled under such circumstances [1,2,3] To address these limitations, rainfall and runoff simulators (RSs) have been developed for laboratory and field analyses, enabling the study of controlled events under different intensities and adequate raindrop uniformity, diameters, velocities, and energy levels. RSs can be used to evaluate soil behavior in response to variations in the slope, moisture content, and suction during testing. RSs enable the evaluation of water runoff and infiltration in soils with or without vegetation cover
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