Prediction of hydraulic conductivity of porous media using a statistical grain-size model

Hydraulic conductivity (K) estimation of porous media is of great significance in contaminant movement and groundwater investigations. The present study examines the influence of effective grain size (d10) and standard deviation (σ) on the K value of borehole soil samples using 5.08, 10.16, and 15.24 cm diameter permeameters. A statistical grain size model was developed and the feasibility of seven empirical equations was evaluated with the measured K values. The K of soil samples increases with the increase in the d10 grain size and decreases with the increase in the σ value. Evaluation of K using empirical equations establishes that the Hazen equation shows relatively good agreement with the measured K values. The study substantiates the efficacy of the developed model as the Kmodel and Kmeasured based R2 (determination coefficient), MAE (mean absolute error), and RMSE (root mean square error) values are (0.982, 0.007, and 0.008), (0.972, 0.005, and 0.007), (0.953, 0.004, and 0.005) for 5.08, 10.16, and 15.24 cm diameter permeameters respectively. The developed model was validated by assessing its efficiency in the prediction of K values for independent soil samples. The developed model-based K accedes to the precise computation of the aquifer yield and groundwater recharge.