SEDL / STP / STP163-EB / STP46164S

Permeability Test for Sands

Chu, T. Y.
Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, and Graduate Assistant, Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa

Davidson, D. T.
Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, and Graduate Assistant, Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa

Wickstrom, A. E.
Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, and Graduate Assistant, Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa

Pages: 13    Published: Jan 1955

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Abstract

Information on the permeability of sand is often required in its utilization as an engineering material. This paper presents a modification of Barber's falling head permeability test for porous granular materials. The modified method is simple to use and gives reproducible results. The modifications recommended include: (1) a procedure for loading and compacting the sample in the permeameter tube, (2) a carbon dioxide treatment to remove air from the sample, and (3) the repeated testing of the loaded sample until permeability values obtained are within a recommended range of variation. The suggested permeability test was used to measure the permeability of several Iowa sands at various densities. Compositional information pertinent to the permeability of the sands is also presented.