Effect of movability of water on the low-velocity pre-Darcy flow in clay soil

Abstract

Water seepage in soil is a fundamental problem involving various scientific and engineering fields. According to the literature, low-velocity water seepage in low-permeability porous media, such as clay, does not follow Darcy's law, also known as pre-Darcy flow. The formation of immovable water due to water adsorption on the pore wall is believed to be responsible for the formation of pre-Darcy flow. However, this view lacks direct solid evidence. To investigate the pre-Darcy water flow in clay, head permeability experiments are conducted on six clay samples with different densities. The results indicate that water seepage in clay at low hydraulic gradients does not follow Darcy's law. A clear nonlinear relationship between flow velocity and hydraulic gradient is observed. Water flow in clay can be divided into the pre-Darcy flow and Darcy flow regions by the critical hydraulic gradient, which is 10–12 for the Albic soil with dry density between 1.3 g/cm3 and 1.8 g/cm3. According to the disjoining pressure theory, immovable water due to water adsorption on the pore wall is the primary reason for water flow deviating from Darcy's law in clay. The results indicate that the percentage of movable water ranges from 39.7% to 59.3% for the six samples at a hydraulic gradient of 1. As the hydraulic gradient increases, the percentage of moveable water also increases. Additionally, there is a strong correlation between the percentage of movable water and the variation in hydraulic conductivity with the hydraulic gradient. Furthermore, a quantitative relationship between the percentage of movable water and the hydraulic conductivity has been established. The results of this study suggest that water adsorption on the pore wall not only affects the water movability, but is also closely related to the pre-Darcy flow phenomenon in clay.