Effect of Clay Percentage in Sandy Clay Soil on Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity

Abstract

Hydraulic properties of sandy clay soil are very important for filtration, seepage and irrigation; so set of experiments were carried out for different samples of sandy clay in Baghdad. Measurements include bulk density, particle size distribution, clay percentage and hydraulic conductivity using constant head system. The aims of this study were to estimate equivalent saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) for different clay percentages and predict porosity of sandy clay as function of clay percentage and porosity of sand and clay. Nine samples of sandy clay soil have been tested in a hydraulic and soil laboratory (Mustansiriya University). Semi-empirical model was correlated to evaluate saturated hydraulic conductivity from clay percentage and results were compared with five empirical models selected from published literature were also used to predict Ks. These empirical models were (Puckett ,1985) , (Ryjov and Sudoplatov,1990), ( Dane ,1992), (Dheyaa ,2001)and (Shevnin.et al, 2006).