Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Influence of Water Retention Curves Model Fitting Parameters on Unsaturated Seepage Modeling of Fly Ashes and Pond Ashes

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Indian Geotechnical Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Water retention curves (WRC) and its fitting parameters are important inputs for conducting unsaturated seepage modeling study in any geotechnical and geo-environmental problems. This study investigated the effect of variation in WRC model fitting parameters on unsaturated seepage modeling behavior for different types of fly ashes and pond ash. A transient seepage analysis was carried out in a one-dimensional cylindrical column using a finite element method-based software SEEP/W, under a specified total head (H) boundary condition. The variation in pore water pressure (PWP) and volumetric water content (VWC) with time was studied for different conditions. It was found that both PWP and VWC variation with time got affected when WRC model fitting parameters of different fly ashes were used. The influence of suction measurement range on unsaturated seepage modeling result was also found to be considerable. It was established from this study that variation in PWP with time for different fly ashes was mainly due to the variation in the WRC model fitting parameters since the saturated hydraulic conductivity (ksat) value of all the fly ashes was comparable. Further, the sensitivity of Fredlund and Xing (Can Geotech J 31(3): 521–532, 1994) model parameters was studied in detail based on their standard deviations. The study showed that sensitivity on seepage modeling results drastically reduces beyond 20% variation from the reference mean value.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

AEV:

Air entry value

a f :

Fitting parameters primarily dependent on the air entry value (AEV)

FX:

Fredlund and Xing fitting function

G :

Specific gravity

kPa:

Kilopascal

LOI:

Loss on ignition

m f :

Fitting parameters which depend on θr

n f :

Fitting parameters that are dependent on the rate of extraction of water from the soil

OMC:

Optimum moisture content

R 2 :

Regression coefficient

SSA:

Specific surface area

TM:

Tensiometer

EQT:

Equitensiometer

w :

Gravimetric water content

WRC:

Water retention curve

ψ :

Total suction

θ(ψ) :

Volumetric water content at any suction, ψ

θ :

Volumetric water content

γ d :

Dry density

References

  1. Li H, Tian H, Ma K (2019) Seepage characteristics and its control mechanism of rock mass in high steep slopes. Processes MDPI 7(71) DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7020071

  2. Jeong S, Lee K, Kim J, Kim Y (2017) Analysis of rainfall induced landslide on unsaturated soil slopes. Sustainability MDPI 9(1280) DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071280

  3. Andreea C (2016) Unsaturated slope stability and seepage analysis of a dam. Energy procedia 85:93–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Sleep MD (2011) Analysis of transient seepage through levees. Ph.D. thesis Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

  5. Fredlund MD (1998) Unsaturated seepage modeling made easy. Geospec Geotechnical news

  6. Lam L, Fredlund DG, Barbour SL (1987) Transient seepage model for saturated-unsaturated soil systems: a geotechnical engineering approach. Can Geotech J 24:565–580

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Stark TD, Jafari NH, Zhindon JSL, Baghdady A (2017) Unsaturated and transient seepage analysis of San Luis dam. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng ASCE 143(2). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0001602

  8. Yang H, He C, Xiao J, Zhan W (2011) Analysis on improvement effect of expansive soil by soil-water characteristics curve. Geotech Special Publ ASCE 222:272–279

    Google Scholar 

  9. Thieu NTM, Fredlund MD, Huang VQ (2001) Seepage modeling in a saturated/unsaturated soil system. In: International conference on the land and water resources MLWR October 20–22 Hanoi Vietman

  10. Fredlund DG (2002) Use of the soil-water characteristics curve in the implementation of unsaturated soil mechanics. Proceedings Third International Conference on Unsaturated Soils UNSAT 2002, Vol. 3, Balkema, Recife, Brazil, 887–902

  11. Fredlund DG, Rahardjo H (1993) Soil mechanics for unsaturated soils. Wiley, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  12. Tripathy S, Tadza MYM, Thomas HR (2014) Soil-water characteristic curves of clays. Can Geotech J 51:869–883

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Zielinski M, Sentenac P, Atique A, Sachez M, Romero E (2011) Comparison of four methods for determining the soil water retention curve. Unsaturated Soils- Alonso & Gens (eds) Taylor & Francis Group London ISBN 978-0-415-60428-4

  14. Agus SS, Schanz T, Fredlund DG (2010) Measurement of suction versus water content for bentonite-sand mixtures. Can Geotech J 47:583–594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Nam S, Gutierrez M, Diplas P, Petrie J, Wayllace JA, Lu N, Munoz JJ (2009) Comparison of testing techniques and models for establishing the SWCC of riverbank soils. Eng Geol 110:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Patric PK, Olsen HW, Higgins JD (2007) Comparison of chilled mirror measurements and filter paper estimates of total soil suction. Geotech Testing J ASTM 30(5):1–8

    Google Scholar 

  17. Likos WJ, Lu N (2003) Automated humidity system for measuring total suction characteristics of clay. Geotech Testing J ASTM 26(2):1–12

    Google Scholar 

  18. Ridley AM, Dineen K, Burland JB, Vaughan PR (2003) Soil matrix suction: some examples of its measurement and application in geotechnical engineering. Geotechnique 53(2):241–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Malaya C (2012) A study on measuring methodologies and critical parameters influencing soil suction-water content relationship. Ph. D. thesis Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati India.

  20. Pan H, Qing Y, Young LP (2010) Direct and indirect measurement of soil suction in the laboratory. Electron J Geotech Eng 15:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  21. Delage P, Romero EE, Tarantino A (2008) Recent developments in the techniques of controlling and measuring suctions in unsaturated soils. Unsaturated soils: Advances in geo engineering- Toll et al. (eds) Taylor & Francis group London 33–52

  22. Sreedeep S, Singh DN (2008) A critical review of the methodologies employed for suction measurement for developing the SWCC. In: The 12th international conference of international association for computer methods and advances in geomechanica (IACMAG) 1988–1993

  23. Ahmaruzzaman M (2010) A review on the utilization of fly ash. Prog Energy Combust Sci 36:327–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Iyer RS, Scott JA (2001) Power station fly ash- a review of value-added utilization outside of the construction industry. Resour Conserv Recycl 31:217–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Foner HA, Robl TL, Hower JC, Graham UM (1999) Characterization of fly ash from Israel with reference to its possible utilization. Fuel 78:215–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Yeheyis MB, Shang JQ, Yanful EK (2010) Feasibility of using coal fly ash for mine waste containment. J Environ Eng ASCE 136(7):682–690

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Hazara S, Patra NR (2008) Performance of counterfort walls with reinforced granular and fly ash backfills: experimental investigation. Geotech Geol Eng 26:259–267. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-007-9162-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Horiuchi S, Kawaguchi M, Yasuhara K (2000) Effective use of fly ash slurry as fill material. J Hazard Mater 76:301–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Nhan CT, Graydon JW, Kirk DW (1996) Utilizing coal fly ash as landfill barrier material. Waste Manag 16(7):587 595

  30. Ramme BW, Naik TR, Kolbeck HJ (1994) Use of fly ash slurry for underground facility construction. Constr Build Mater 8(1):63–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Prakash K, Sridharan A (2009) Beneficial properties of coal ashes and effective solid waste management. Pract Period Hazard Toxic Radioactive Waste Manag 13(4):239–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Zha F, Liu SUY, Cui K (2008) Behavior of expansive soils stabilized with fly ash. J Natural Hazards 47:509–523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Edil TB, Acosta HA, Benson CH (2006) Stabilizing soft fine-grained soils with fly ash. J Mater Civ Eng ASCE 18(2):283–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Çokça E, Yilmaz Z (2004) Use of rubber bentonite added fly ash as a liner material. Waste Manag 24:153–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Zhang JR, Xing CAO (2002) Stabilization of expansive soil by lime and fly ash. J Wuhan Univ Technol- Mater Sci Ed 17(4):73–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. ASTM C618-05 (2005) Standard specification for coal ash and raw or calcined natural pozzolan for use in concrete. Annual Book of ASTM Standards ASTM International West Conshohocken PA 2005

  37. Das SK, Yudhbir (2006) Geotechnical properties of low calcium and high calcium fly ash. Geotech Geol Eng 24:249–263

  38. Das SK, Yudhbir (2005) Geotechnical characterization of some Indian fly ashes. J Mater Civil Eng ASCE 17:544–552

  39. Gleason MH, David ED, Gerald RE (1997) Calcium and sodium bentonite for hydraulic containment applications. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng ASCE 123(5):438–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Mishra MK, Karanam UMR (2006) Geotechnical characterization of fly ash composites for backfilling mine voids. Geotech Geol Eng 24:1749–1765

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Pandian NS (2004) Fly ash characterization with reference to geotechnical applications. J Indian Inst Sci 84:189–216

    Google Scholar 

  42. Heineck KS, Lemos RG, Flores JAA, Consoli NC (2010) Influence of particle morphology on the hydraulic behavior of coal ash and sand. Geotech Geol Eng 28:325–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Hsu TC, Yu CC, Yeh CM (2008) Adsorption of Cu2+ from water using raw and modified coal fly ashes. Fuel 87:1355–1359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Abhijit D, Sreedeep S (2017) Contaminant retention characteristics of fly ash-bentonite mixes. Waste Manag Res SAGE 35(1):40–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Alinnor IJ (2007) Adsorption of heavy metal ions from aqueous solution by fly ash. Fuel 86:853–857

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Cho H, Oh D, Kim K (2005) A study on removal characteristics of heavy metals from aqueous solution by fly ash. J Hazard Mater 127:187–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Ilic M, Cheeseman C, Sollars C, Knight J (2003) Mineralogy and micro structured of sintered lignite coal ash. Fuel 82:331–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Chakradhar V, Katoch SS (2016) Study of fly ash in hydraulic barriers in landfills: a review. Int Refereed J Eng Sci 5(4):32–38

    Google Scholar 

  49. Rout S, Singh SP (2016) An experimental investigation on the geoengineering properties of pond ash-bentonite mixes. Indian Geotechnical Conference IGC 2016 15–17 December IIT Madras Chennai India

  50. Mishra AK, Ravindra V (2015) On the utilization of mixtures of fly ash and cement as a landfill liner material. Int J Geosynthetics Ground Eng 1(2):1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Maitra S, Ahmad F, Das AK, Das S, Dutta BK (2010) Effect of curing conditions and ionic additives on properties of fly ash-lime compacts. Bull Mater Sci 33(2):185–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Kumar A, Walia BS, Bajaj A (2007) Influence of fly ash, lime, and polyester fibers on compaction and strength properties of expansive soil. J Mater Civ Eng ASCE 19(3):242–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Kumar PBR, Sharma RS (2004) Effect of fly ash on engineering properties of expansive soils. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng ASCE 130(7):764–767

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Kaniraj SR, Gayathri V (2003) Geotechnical behavior of fly ash mixed with randomly oriented fiber inclusion. Geotext Geomembr 21:123–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Rahardjo H, Kim Y, Satyanaga A (2019) Role of unsaturated soil mechanics in geotechnical engineering. Int J Geo-Eng 10:8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40703-019-0104-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Pande GN, Pietruszczak S (2015) On unsaturated soil mechanics- personal views on current research. Studia Geotech et Mech 37(3):73–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Fredlund DG, Xing A (1994) Equations for the soil-water characteristics curve. Can Geotech J 31(3):521–532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Lin B, Cerato AB (2013) Hysteretic soil water characteristics and cyclic swell–shrink paths of compacted expansive soils. Bull Eng Geol Env 72:61–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. SEEP/W (2007) Seepage Modeling with SEEP/W An engineering methodology. Geo-Slope International Ltd

  60. Richards LA (1931) Capillary conduction of liquids through porous medium. Physics 1:318–333

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  61. Abhijit D, Sreedeep S (2015) Evaluation of measurement methodologies used for establishing water retention characteristic curve of fly ash. J Testing Evaluation ASTM 43(5):1066–1077

    Google Scholar 

  62. Naik HK, Mishra MK, Behera B (2007) Laboratory investigation and characterization of some byproducts for their effective utilization. 1st international conference on managing the social and environmental consequences of coal mining in India New Delhi, November 19–21:1–10

  63. Pandian NS, Rajasekhar C, Sridharan A (1998) Studies of the specific gravity of some Indian coal ashes. J Test Eval ASTM 26(3):177–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thankfully acknowledge Department of Science and Technology, India for providing the funding for this research work vide Project No. SR/S3/MERC/0040/2011.

Funding

Department of Science and Technology, India. Project No. SR/S3/MERC/0040/2011.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Central Institute of Technology Kokrajhar, Kokrajhar, Assam, 783370, India

    Abhijit Deka

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, 781039, India

    Sreedeep Sekharan

Authors
  1. Abhijit Deka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sreedeep Sekharan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abhijit Deka.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

There is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Deka, A., Sekharan, S. Influence of Water Retention Curves Model Fitting Parameters on Unsaturated Seepage Modeling of Fly Ashes and Pond Ashes. Indian Geotech J 51, 1249–1262 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40098-021-00513-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40098-021-00513-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation