A new capillary and thin film flow model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated porous media

Abstract

Most classical predictive models of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity conceptualize the pore space as either bundles of cylindrical tubes of uniform size or assemblies of cylindrical capillary tubes of various sizes. As such, these models have assumed that liquid configuration is the same in both the wet and dry ranges and that a single concept can be used to describe water transport over the entire range of matric head. Yet theoretical and experimental findings suggest that water transport in wet media, which mostly occurs in water saturated capillaries, is quite different from that in dry media, which occurs in thin liquid films. Following these observations, this paper proposes a new model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of porous media that accounts for both capillary and thin film flow processes. As with other predictive models, a mathematical relationship is established between hydraulic conductivity and the water retention function. The model is mathematically simple and can easily be integrated into existing numerical models of water transport in unsaturated soils. In sample calculations, the model provided very good agreement with hydraulic conductivity data over the entire range of matric head. Two other well-supported models, on the other hand, were unable to conform to the experimental data. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union.