Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Carleton University CIVE 3208 GEOTECHNICAL MECHANICS

FALLING HEAD TEST

Purpose The falling head test is used to determine the coefficient of permeability (hydraulic conductivity), k, of finer grain soils. It also uses Darcys Law to back calculate the coefficient of permeability; however, the calculations are not as straight forward as the constant head test since the hydraulic gradient varies with time. The equation used to determine the coefficient of permeability for the falling head test is given below.

k=

h al ln o At1 h1

where a is the cross-sectional area of the stand pipe above the soil column. l is the length of the soil column A is the cross-sectional area of the soil column t1 is the time taken for the total head to reduce from ho to h1 ho is the total head loss over the length of the soil column at t=0 h1 is the total head loss over the length of the column at t=t1

Procedure 1. Obtain at least enough soil to place approximately 5 cm of soil in the falling head apparatus. Determine the mass of the initial volume of soil. 2. Place the filter fabric above the perforated plastic disk. The filter fabric will prevent the finer grains from leaving the soil column. 3. Place the soil in the falling head apparatus. Compact the soil by tapping the soil container with your hand to vibrate the soil and reduce the soil porosity. The top surface of the soil should be relatively flat. Weigh the remaining soil to determine the mass of soil in the falling head apparatus. 4. Determine the dry density of the soil. The inside radius of the falling head apparatus is 8.9 cm. 5. Add de-aired water to the system through the overflow pipe connected to the base of the column. Allow the water to rise to 5 to 8 cm above the soil surface. Close the valve to the overflow container and carefully add water to the column containing the soil sample trying NOT to disturb to the soil. Bring the water elevation to within 1 or 2 cm of the top of the column. Determine the total head at t=0. 6. Mark the initial water level and the levels corresponding to 2, 5, and 10 cm below the initial water level on the masking tape added in step 3.

7. Before beginning the falling head test, be sure that the water level in the overflow stand pipe is at the top of the stand pipe and there is no air trapped in the tube connecting the column to the overflow container. 8. To begin the test, open the valve and start the stopwatch or record the time. Record the time it takes for the water level to drop 2 cm, 5 cm and 10 cm below the initial water level. 9. Using the formula given earlier, determine the coefficient of permeability using the data obtained as the water level fell from 0-2 cm, 0-5 cm, 0-10 cm, 2-5 cm, 2-10 cm, and 5-10 cm. Determine the average k value for the soil sample. Comment on the differences in the k values calculated over each water level change given above. Reference Material Budhu, M., Soil Mechanics and Foundations, 2nd Ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Coduto, D., Geotechnical Engineering: Principles and Practices, Prentice-Hall. ASTM, Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Philadelphia, copyright, American Society for Testing and Materials, 1916 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Liu, Cheng and Evett, Jack B., Soil Properties - Testing, Measurement, and Evaluation,Second Edition, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632, 1990.

Mass of container and initial volume of soil (g) Mass of container and remaining soil (g) Mass of soil sample in the column (g)
total head initial head Ho Ho - 2 cm Ho - 5 cm Ho - 10 cm

_______ _______ _______

time