Simple Groundwater Laboratory Models

Abstract

Laboratory models made of sand, water, and small amounts of cement (“weak mortar”) are shown to be practical, inexpensive alternatives to standard porous media models made from sand epoxy resins, glass geads, or sand only. By varying proportions of the weak mortar mix, one can fashion complex layered models with hydraulic conductivities ranging from 1.4 × 10 -8 m/s to 3.7 × 10 -4 m/s. Dispersion tests using Rhodamine dye were performed on a 2.4 m × 1.14 m × 0.15 m rectangular weak mortar model; the results compared favorably with the analytical predictions, with longitudinal dispersivities on the order of 10 cm. Anticipated applications of weak mortar models are for verification of mathematical models, hydraulic scaled models and laboratory demonstrations.