How to perform hydraulic conductivity upscaling in the daily practice of geotechnical modeler?

Abstract

Although important for many geotechnical issues, hydraulic conductivity heterogeneity is rarely considered in geotechnical practice for two main issues. First, it is almost impossible to sample the entire area of interest. Second, it is very difficult to account for scale effects in our numerical models. In this paper, we divulgated an important result obtained in a previous work [1], where those two problems were faced. An innovative approach in geotechnics based on simple averaging process is showed. That approach incorporates spatial variability, multiscale data, and uncertainty treatment into a workflow that could be implemented in the daily practice of geotechnical engineers in order to perform hydraulic conductivity upscaling. The approach described allows a practical and reliable hydraulic conductivity upscaling for the studied soil, proving itself as a good solution for the daily practice of the geotechnical modeler.