Fundamental Theroy and Experimental Research

Determining permeability coefficient of Green-Ampt model for infiltration analysis

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  • 1. Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; 2. Department of Geotechnical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; 3. School of Engineering and Information Technology, Federation University, Australia; 4. China Jikan Institute of Engineering Investigation and Design Co., Ltd., Xi’an, Shaanxi 710043, China

Received date: 2015-03-06

  Online published: 2018-06-14

Abstract

The Green-Ampt model is a simple method for infiltration analysis. Due to its ease to use, the Green-Ampt model is potentially very useful for the prediction of slope failure under rainfall infiltration. A key parameter in this model is the permeability coefficient, which is different from the saturated permeability of the soil. This study investigates the relationship between the permeability coefficient in the Green-Ampt model (kg) and the saturated permeability coefficient of the soil (ks) through comparison with results from the more accurate Richards’ equation. The ratio of kg to ks is called the permeability coefficient adjusting factor. It is found that the adjusting factor depends on the factor of the duration of the rainfall as well as the soil type. For the soil studied in this paper, an adjusting factor of 0.7 seems to be optimal in reproducing the pore pressure distribution calculated based on Richards’ equation.

Cite this article

Lü Te , ZHANG Jie , XUE Jian-feng , HUANG Hong-wei , YU Yong-tang, . Determining permeability coefficient of Green-Ampt model for infiltration analysis[J]. Rock and Soil Mechanics, 2015 , 36(S1) : 341 -345 . DOI: 10.16285/j.rsm.2015.S1.058

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