The effect of the shape parameters of a sample on the hydraulic conductivity

Abstract

Summary The present study is a complement to the research investigating a laboratory method for measuring the saturated hydraulic conductivity of mountain forest soils, the results of which were presented in a paper by Ilek and Kucza (2014). The aim of the study is to analyse the influence of variation of particular cross-sections of samples and their enlarged side surface on the hydraulic conductivity measurement. The results show that a narrowing in the upper section of the sample results in an approximately twice lower disturbance of the laminar water flow than the narrowing occurring inside the sample. For that reason, the extent of the effect of the cross-section narrowing on the hydraulic conductivity measurement error is dependent on the location of the narrowing. An enlarged side surface of a sample, as described by the coefficient of side surface development, is on average 30% larger than the surface of a sample having the same volume and the same average cross-sectional area but a regular shape. The values of the coefficient of side surface development for a given sample were adopted in the range of 1.10–1.56. Among the shape parameters of the analysed irregular soil samples, the greatest impact on the measurement error is exerted by their enlarged lateral surface, which almost entirely explains the whole error of hydraulic conductivity measurement. The variability of successive cross-sectional areas of samples appears to be of marginal importance for the occurrence of this error, whose mean value was 1.15%.