Modelling of Permeability Reduction of Soil Filters due to Clogging

흙 필터재의 폐색으로 인한 투수성 저하 모델 개발

Soil filters are commonly used to protect the soil structures from eroding and piping. When filters are clogged by fine particles which are progressively accumulated, these may lead to buildup of excessive pore pressures also leading to instability in subsurface infrastructure. A filter in the backfill of a retaining wall, a filter adjacent to the lining of a tunnel, or a filter in the bottom of an earth dam can be clogged by transported fine particles. This causes reduction in the permeability, which in turn may lead to intolerable decreases in their drainage capacity. In this thesis, the extent of this reduction is addressed using results from both experimental and theoretical investigations. In the experimental phase, the permeability reduction of a filter is monitored when an influent of constant concentration flows into the filter (uncoupled test), and when the water flow through the soil-filter system to simulate an in-situ condition (coupled test), respectively. The results of coupled and uncoupled test are compared with among others. In the theoretical phase of the investigation, a representative elemental volume of the soil filter was modeled as an ensemble of capillary tubes and the permeability reduction due to physical clogging was simulated using basic principles of flow in cylindrical tubes. In general, it was found that the permeability was reduced by at least one order of magnitude, and that the results from the uncoupled test and theoretical investigations were in good agreement. It is observed that the amount of deposited particles of the coupled test matches fairly well with that of the uncoupled test, which indicates that the prediction of permeability reduction is possible by preforming the uncoupled test instead of the coupled test, and/or by utilizing the theoretical model.