Permeability of Compacted Clay Liners in Laboratory Scale Models

by George P. Korfiatis, Stevens Inst of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA,
Nidal Rabah, Stevens Inst of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA,
Djamel Lekmine, Stevens Inst of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Geotechnical Practice for Waste Disposal '87

Abstract:

Experiments conducted in flexible wall permeameters have shown that the permeability of a soil sample is dependent on the size of the specimen tested. The permeability was found to decrease substantially with decreasing specimen height. Heterogeneity scale effects stemming from large pressure differences across the sample, entrance and exit flow boundary conditions and density variations are believed to be responsible for the observed behavior. Experiments conducted in a laboratory scale model of a liner have shown that significant areal variability of the hydraulic conductivity can result even under strictly controlled laboratory conditions. In addition, the hydraulic conductivity was found to substantially decrease with increasing overburden stresses. The results of this study have shown that the relative heterogeneity length scales must be investigated and quantified in order to assess the usefullness of laboratory and field test data in predicting the hydraulic behavior of liners.

Subject Headings: Permeability (soil) | Clay liners | Compacted soils | Soil properties | Permeability (material) | Hydraulic conductivity | Field tests

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