Use of water borehole tests for the determination of the permeability of anisotropic soils

✍ Scribed by Zoubeir Lafhaj; Isam Shahrour

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 138 KB
• Volume: 34
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0266-352X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compgeo.2006.09.007

✦ Synopsis

This paper concerns the use of borehole water tests for the determination of the permeability of anisotropic soils. Such soils are frequently encountered in geotechnical and environmental engineering. The methodology is elaborated using a finite element analysis of the water flow through a cylindrical cavity in the soil mass. This analysis clearly shows that the water flow through the cavity is governed by both the soil anisotropy and the slenderness ratio of the cavity. Numerical simulations allow driving a simple expression for the variation of the shape factor of anisotropic soils with the degree of anisotropy. This factor permits the determination of the soil permeability from water borehole tests.