Role of Dynamic Flow in Relationships between Suction Head and Degree of Saturation

Abstract

This paper presents results of the relationship between the degree of saturation and the matric suction head at static equilibrium and during dynamic flow of water using a Buchner funnel and a fully instrumented two-dimensional tank, respectively. The major influences of the dynamic flow on the relationships between the suction head and the degree of saturation are highlighted and discussed. The experimental results show that dynamic flow of water strongly affects the volume of entrapped air. The results also reveal that any scanning curve can be described as two parts, namely, transition and coinciding. The transition curve starts from the recent reversal degree of saturation and continues up to the previous reversal degree of saturation. The shape of the transition curve and the amount of hysteresis are not only a function of the reversal degree of saturation but are also a function of the saturation path history. The experimental results are used to examine the validity of the proposed analytical model by Parker and Lenhard in 1987 for describing the relationships between the degree of saturation and the matric suction head. It was found that Parker and Lenhard’s model provides a good prediction of the relations provided that care should be taken for the value of the reversal degree of saturation at zero suction head.