Al-Tabbaa, A. & Wood, D. M. (1987).GCorechnique 31, No.

4,499-503

Some measurements of the permeability of kaolin

A. AL-TABBAA* and D. M. WOOD

This Paper reports an experimental investigation
of the vertical and horizontal permeabilities of
speswhite kaolin clay. The permeabilities were
measured using falling head permeability tests. A
modification to a conventional oedometer was
devised so that either vertical or horizontal per-
meabilities could he determined. It was found that
the vertical and horizontal permeabilities of the
clay slurry were similar, but that as the clay was
consolidated one dimensionally the anisotropy of
the clay fabric resulted in a greater horizontal per-
meability than the vertical permeability at any void
ratio. Both permeabilities were uniquely related to
the void ratio, for this one-dimensional history,
independent of the overconsolidation ratio.
KEYWORDS: anisotropy; apparatus; clay; laboratory;
permeability.
Larticle decrit des mesures exp&rimentales de per-
mkabilitC verticale et horizontale effect&s sur de
largile (kaolin speswhite) par des essais de per-
mCabiliti? 1 charge variable. Un oedomi?tre a CtC
modiii! pour dkterminer la perm8abilS verticale
ou horizontale. On a trouvi! que les permiabiliti?s
verticale et horizontale du coulis dargile Ctaient
similaires. Cependant, comme Iargile Btait unidi-
mensionnellement consolidb, Ianisotropie de la
texture de Iargile a don& une permiabilitit hori-
zontale plus blev6e que la permCabiliti! verticale
quelque soit Iindice des vides Pour ces conditions
undimensionnelles il a kti! trouve que les deux per-
mCabilitb Ctaient directement Ii&s 1 lindice des
vides, indbpendamment du taux de sur-
consolidation.

NOTATION tion of the soil can be accurately described as one

a cross-sectional area of the permeability dimensional, and where the flow of water is in the
burette vertical direction. For loadings of more limited
A cross-sectional area of the clay sample extent, the deformation will not be one
C coefficient of one-dimensional consolidation dimensional--even on the centre line of a circular
h excess head of water after time t load movements may be entirely vertical but the
ho initial excess head of water degree of lateral constraint provided by the sur-
k permeability rounding soil will be less than that experienced by
4, horizontal permeability a soil sample in the confining ring of an oedom-
kv vertical permeability eter.
L height of the sample The coefficient of consolidation c, that is intro-
4 one-dimensional compliance duced in the one-dimensional theory of consoli-
R external radius of the clay sample dation is defined as a ratio of permeability k to
r. internal radius of the clay sample one-dimensional compliance m, of the soil
t time
Yw unit weight of porewater c, = klm,yw (1)

where y, is the unit weight of the porewater. For

INTRODUCTION more general situations, which are not one
Estimates of the rates at which settlements of dimensional, it will be necessary to resort to a
structures on clay soils will develop are usually numerical analysis to estimate settlements, using
made using values for the coefficient of one- a generalization of the coefficient of consolidation
dimensional consolidation c, obtained from oedo- c,-replacing the single permeability k by a
meter tests on samples of soil taken out of the general description of the, possibly anisotropic,
ground with their axes vertical. Such values of c, permeability of the soil, and replacing the compli-
are appropriate to the calculation of rates of ver- ance or compressibility m, by a general relation-
tical settlement where the changes in load are ship between strains and changes in effective
uniform over broad areas, so that the deforma- stresses-a constitutive model for the soil.
Because soils are typically laid down in hori-
Discussion on this Paper closes on 1 April 1988. For zontal layers, the permeability k, to horizontal
further details see p. ii. flow of porewater is usually found to be higher
* Formerly Cambridge University Engineering Depart- than the permeability k, to vertical flow. Beneath
ment; now at University of Glasgow. any structure the direction of flow of water with

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 500 AL-TABBAA AND WOOD

dissipation of excess porewater pressures will not Load

be purely vertical or horizontal but if k, is signifi-

cantly greater than k, then horizontal flow will
tend to dominate and to control the rate of defor-
PlStOn-
mation and settlement. Vertical permeabilities are
often measured or deduced during conventional
oedometer tests. The measurement in the labor- Porous plastic-
disc0.5mm
atory of the possibly more important horizontal
permeability has received less attention. Rubber membrane
0.25 mm
In this Paper a direct method for evaluating
Fflter-paper
both vertical and horizontal permeabilities of clay 0.37mm -
from falling head permeability tests in an oedom- r
eter is discussed.
The clay used in the experiments reported here
was speswhite kaolin, which is being used exten-
sively for model tests and laboratory studies in
the soil mechanics laboratories at Cambridge To drainage
University and elsewhere. This kaolin has a liquid burette. or
5mmdla
limit of 0.69, a plastic limit of 0.38 and a percen-
,
c
permeabfhty
tage of particles less than 2 urn in diameter of burette
8t3mm
80%.
Fig. 1. Oedometer modified for the measurement of
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE radial permeability
An oedometer of internal diameter 88 mm was
used in all the tests discussed in this Paper. The
clay was enclosed within a rubber membrane (to Impermeable top and bottom platens were made
eliminate leakage and interference with a contact to accommodate a central porous ceramic
stress transducer which was used to measure column 18 mm in diameter, which locates in the
horizontal stresses as part of a separate study). centre of the top platen and is able to slide
The effects of the presence of the membrane on through the centre of the bottom platen as com-
the values of permeability deduced have been pression of the clay proceeds. A strip of filter-
ignored. (Wrinkling of the membrane as the soil is paper with vertical slits was put on the inside of
compressed will make the average outer radius of the rubber membrane around the sample; this
the sample slightly smaller than assumed from the filter-paper was in hydraulic contact with a
dimensions of the apparatus and the average void porous plastic disc placed above the top imper-
ratio of the soil slightly lower than that calculated meable metal platen. During a consolidation
from the movement of the rigid platen.) For mea- stage the porous column was connected at the
surements of vertical permeability, porous top base to a drainage burette and an increment of
and bottom platens were used. To perform falling vertical load applied. The clay was then able to
head permeability tests, the base was connected drain radially both inwards towards the central
to a 5 mm dia. burette and a difference of water porous column and outwards towards the filter-
head applied. paper, as indicated in Fig. 2(a). At the end of each
For measurements of horizontal permeability consolidation step, the porous column was con-
the oedometer was modified as shown in Fig. 1. nected to the 5 mm dia. burette and a head differ-
Appl!ed stress

(4 0)
Fig. 2. (a) Drainage path for radial drainage during consolidation; (h)
drainage path for radial flow during falling head permeability tests

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 PERMEABILITY OF KAOLIN 501

where k, is the vertical permeability, assumed

uniform and constant, n is the cross-sectional
area of the permeability burette, A is the cross-
sectional area of the clay sample, L is the height
of the sample, h, is the initial excess head of water
applied through the permeability burette at time
f = 0 and h is the excess head of water after
time t.
For a falling head permeability test in which
the flow of water through the sample is entirely
horizontal (radial), the horizontal permeability k,
can be calculated from the formula

0 10 20 30 40 50 k,=&ln(:)ln(:) (3)
Time. days

Fig. 3. Loading history of all tests in terms of the applied

vertical stress C,
ence established across the sample, causing water
to flow radially outwards towards the filter-paper
drainage layer, as shown in Fig. 2(b). The effects
of smearing of the clay against the porous
ceramic column were ignored in calculating per-
meabilities.
Tests were performed on clay consolidated
the oedometer from a slurry prepared at a water
content of 120%. The initial height of the slurry
sample was typically about 45 mm, reducing to
about 20 mm as the vertical stress was increased.
During the falling head tests readings of the
decrease in water head with time were recorded
over a period of about 24 hours. The initial
applied head difference was 400 mm in all tests.
It is known that one-dimensional vertical con-
solidation with horizontal, radial, drainage can
produce non-uniformities of effective stresses and
deformations because the clay drains faster near
the drainage boundaries, so that the effective
stresses and stiffnesses build up faster near these
boundaries (Gibson, Knight & Taylor, 1963).
Experimental studies by Atkinson, Evans & Ho
(1985) suggest that detectable non-uniformities
will be negligible provided that the rate of loading
is sufficiently low. The standard loading history
used is shown in Fig. 3. The applied load was
changed every 2 days. At the end of each experi-
ment the variation in water content across the
sample was measured and found to be uniform
within an experimental accuracy of +0.2%.
where r,, and R are the internal and external radii
of the clay specimen and the other symbols have
the meanings already given.
In equations (2) and (3), it is assumed that the
flow of water down a gradient of excess pore-
water pressure is governed by Darcys law, that
steady seepage flow through the soil is established
immediately and that the permeability of the soil
in is uniform and remains constant with time during
each falling head test.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Typical results of some of the falling head per-
meability tests conducted with radial flow are
shown in Fig. 4, where the time is plotted on a
linear scale and the head plotted on a logarithmic
scale. The observed relationships between time
and logarithm of head are approximately linear,
as expected from the form of expression (3). It was
only at the beginning of some tests (about the
first 15 minutes of the 24 hour tests) that devi-
ations from linearity were observed.

EVALUATION OF PERMEABILITY FROM

FALLING HEAD TESTS
For a falling head permeability test in which
flow through the sample is entirely vertical, the
vertical permeability can be calculated from the
formula

k, = % t ln
02 Fig. 4. log L versus time relationship for a falling head
permeability test with radial drainage

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 502 AL-TABBAA AND WOOD

7.0- 3.0-
6.0-
Equation (5)
/

l-O-

0.6-

l Vertical permeability
0.6-
m Horizontal permeablllty
0.6-
L 0 Vertical permeability on unloading
0.8 1.0 2.0 3.0 0 Vertical permeablllty on reloading
Void ratlo
n Horizontal permeabhty on unloading
Fig. 5. Relationship between permeability and void ratio --
for normally consolidated kaolin 1 .o 2.0
Void ratto

Fig. 6. Relationship between permeability and void ratio

Values of vertical and horizontal permeability for overconsolidated kaolin
of kaolin obtained from falling head tests are
plotted against the void ratio in Fig. 5, with both
permeability and void ratio plotted on logarith-
mic axes. These results were all obtained from The permeability of speswhite kaolin was also
tests on normally consolidated kaolin for which investigated in the overconsolidated state. Mea-
the vertical effective stress was being steadily surements of vertical permeability were per-
increased and the void ratio was steadily falling. formed on unloading and reloading cycles.
It is to be expected that the permeability of a Measurements of radial (horizontal) permeability
clay is primarily dependent on the void ratio. The were made only on an unloading path. Per-
clay studied here was prepared as a slurry at a meabilities were measured using the falling head
void ratio of about 3.1. In this state the orienta- procedure and the values deduced are shown in
tion of clay particles should be completely Fig. 6, together with the lines given by equations
random and consequently the permeability of the (4) and (5) deduced from the tests on normally
material should be the same in all directions: the consolidated kaolin. These lines provide a reason-
measured vertical and horizontal permeabilities able fit to the data for overconsolidated kaolin
are indeed initially essentially identical. As the too, which suggests that the permeability of
clay is consolidated, some preferential particle kaolin under one-dimensional loading and
orientation orthogonal to the direction of major, unloading is primarily related to the void ratio, in
vertical, effective stress is expected to develop and any state of stress, and is independent of the over-
the horizontal permeability falls less rapidly than consolidation ratio. Even when the loading of a
the vertical permeability. At a void ratio e = 1, clay takes it away from the one-dimensional
corresponding to a vertical effective stress of history it has known, its structure will still be
about 500 kPa, the horizontal permeability is largely the result of this history, and expressions
about three times as large as the vertical per- (4) and (5) will still provide a good indication of
meability. the current vertical and horizontal permeabilities.
The data shown in Fig. 5 were obtained from In these falling head tests errors arise because
two tests each for measurements of horizontal the application of a head of water across the
and vertical permeabilities. A least squares fit to sample produces changes in effective stress
the data produces the approximate relationships through the sample. There are two effects

k, = 0.53e316 x 10m6 mm/s (a) reductions in effective stress, which are great-
(4)
est near the drainage boundary to which the
k h = 1.49e203 x 10e6 mm/s (5) falling head is applied, cause swelling of the

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 PERMEABILITY OF KAOLIN 503

sample and hence increases in void ratio and dients were typically about lo), but the discrep-
permeability ancy is more concerned with the applied head
(b) as the clay swells, some of the inflowing water difference as a proportion of the current applied
is initially used up in accommodating the vertical effective stress, since it is this that con-
increase in void ratio and does not continue trols the potential for temporary swelling of the
to flow right through the sample. clay. In these tests the initial head difference was
always 400 mm of water, 3.9 kPa. Falling head
The initial observed fall in applied head is
tests were performed at vertical effective stresses
linked with this swelling as well as with the per-
above about 50 kPa. The swelling and recom-
meability of the clay. As the applied load falls the
pression of the clay under the varying applied
clay will recompress and the rate at which water
head had a negligible effect on the permeabilities
flows out of the sample should slightly exceed the
determined from the later stages of the falling
rate at which it flows in. Clamping the sample
head tests.
would produce complex stress conditions within
the sample and while preventing any overall
change in volume would not prevent local swell-
ing near the drainage boundary with the applied CONCLUSIONS
load. In the tests reported here the sample was A modified oedometer has been used to
left free to swell, but the applied head difference measure vertical and horizontal permeabilities of
was kept quite small-falling from 400 mm of speswhite kaolin using falling head tests as it is
water at the start of each test-and the overall compressed from a slurry. The measurements
swelling of the sample that was measured was in indicate that both vertical and horizontal per-
general insignificant (corresponding to a change meabilities are primarily dependent on the void
in void ratio of no more than about 0+X)1). ratio and show that at high void ratios the clay
Pane, Croce, Znidarcic, Ko, Olsen & Schiffman structure is random and the permeability is essen-
(1983) show that the apparent permeabilities tially isotropic. However, as the clay is com-
deduced from the initial rate of fall of applied pressed vertically and one-dimensionally the
head in falling head tests can, because of the vertical permeability decreases more rapidly than
effects discussed here, be considerably in excess of the horizontal permeability.
values measured with flow pumps, with which
very low flow rates, associated with very low head
differences, can be accurately measured. They also
show that the permeabilities measured at later REFERENCES
stages of falling head tests are in much closer Atkinson, J. H., Evans, J. S. & Ho, E. W. L. (1985).
agreement with flow pump values. The slopes of Non-uniformity of triaxial samples due to consoli-
lines such as those shown in Fig. 4 are evidently dation with radial drainage. Gtotechnique 35, No. 3,
controlled more by the later data than by the 353-355.
Gibson, R. E., Knight, K. & Taylor, P. W. (1963). A
initial points.
critical experiment to examine theories of three-
Pane et al. (1983) link the discrepancies with
dimensional consolidation. Proc. Eur. Conf Soil
the magnitude of the initial hydraulic gradient Mech. Fdn Engng, Wiesbaden 1,69916.
(they quote falling head tests with initial hydrau- Pane, V., Croce, P., Znidarcic, D., Ko, H.-Y., Olsen, H.
lic gradients as high as 80, compared with their W. & Schiffman, R. L. (1983). Effects of consoli-
flow pump hydraulic gradients of about 0.5-in dation on permeability measurements for soft clay.
the tests described here the initial hydraulic gra- Gbotechnique 33, No. 1,61-12.

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