ASTM International

Standard Test Methods for Measurement of Hydraulic Conductivity of Saturated Porous Materials Using a Flexible Wall Permeameter
 N D5084

Annotation

These test methods cover laboratory measurement of the hydraulic conductivity (also referred to as coeff cient of permeability) of water-saturated porous materials with a flexible wall permeameter at temperatures between about 15 and 30°C (59 and 86°F). Temperatures outside this range may be used; however, the user would have to determine the specific gravity of mercury and RT (see 10.3) at those temperatures using data from Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. There are six alternate methods or hydraulic systems that may be used to measure the hydraulic conductivity. These hydraulic systems are as follows:

Method A - Constant Head

Method B - Falling Head, constant tailwater elevation

Method C - Falling Head, rising tailwater elevation

Method D - Constant Rate of Flow

Method E - Constant Volume-Constant Head (by mercury)

Method F - Constant Volume-Falling Head (by mercury), rising tailwater elevation

These test methods use water as the permeant liquid; see 4.3 and Section 6 on Reagents for water requirements.

These test methods may be utilized on all specimen types (undisturbed, reconstituted, remolded, compacted, etc.) that have a hydraulic conductivity less than about 1 ? 10?6 m/s (1 ? 10?4 cm/s), providing the head loss requirements of 5.2.3 are met. For the constant-volume methods, the hydraulic conductivity typically has to be less than about 1 ? 10?7 m/s.

If the hydraulic conductivity is greater than about 1 ? 10?6 m/s, but not more than about 1 ? 10?5 m/s; then the size of the hydraulic tubing needs to be increased along with the porosity of the porous end pieces. Other strategies, such as using higher viscosity fluid or properly decreasing the cross-sectional area of the test specimen, or both, may also be possible. The key criterion is that the requirements covered in Section 5 have to be met.