Abstract
When a cohesive soil is dried, its volume tends to shrink in three directions. Shrinkage of the soil causes tensile stresses to develop and desiccation cracks will start to develop. The occurrence of cracks can significantly influence the lateral flow of water through the soil. It is important to understand the characteristics of lateral flow through a cracked soil. A model to predict the lateral flow rate through a network of cracks in the soils is proposed in this paper. In the proposed model, the actual network of cracks was idealized into a set of linear cracks. The flow through a single crack was modeled as a flow through parallel plates and the flow rate through the idealized network of cracks was calculated by incorporating the conservation of mass principle and the additional head losses due to the change in crack aperture. Laboratory experiments were performed to investigate the predictive performance of the model. Experiments were performed consisting of two main parts; namely, performing a desiccation test and performing a lateral flow test to measure the lateral flow rate through a cracked soil specimen followed by measuring water contents along the cracked soil specimen following the completion of the test. The laboratory test results indicated that during the lateral flow through the unsaturated soil specimens, two types of flow occurred which can be described as the steady state water flow through the network of cracks and the transient state seepage into the soil matrix. A comparison of the predicted and measured lateral water flow rates showed that the proposed model was able to predict the lateral flow rate through the network of cracks quite well.
Highlights
A cohesive soil shrinks as it dries until its gravimetric water content reaches the shrinkage limit
Desiccation cracks are a common occurrence at the soil surface in the field (e.g., Heath and Lehr, 1987; Morris et al, 1992; Hewitt and Philip, 1999). 42 When rainwater enters a cracked soil on a sloping surface, it flows laterally through the 43 network of cracks and seeps into the soil matrix
A model to predict the lateral water flow rate from the map plan view of the network of cracks in a soil is needed in engineering practice. 67 This paper presents a model to predict the lateral water flow rate through a network of cracks 68 in a soil
Summary
A cohesive soil shrinks as it dries until its gravimetric water content reaches the shrinkage limit. A model to predict the lateral flow rate through a network of cracks in the soils is proposed in this paper. 67 This paper presents a model to predict the lateral water flow rate through a network of cracks in a soil.
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