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Flow through porous media from a pressurized spherical cavity
Author(s) -
Lockington D.,
Hara M.,
Hogarth W.,
Parlange J.Y.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr025i002p00303
Subject(s) - mechanics , pressure head , loam , vadose zone , porous medium , saturation (graph theory) , geotechnical engineering , thermal diffusivity , flow (mathematics) , materials science , hydraulic head , porosity , soil water , soil science , mathematics , geology , thermodynamics , physics , groundwater , combinatorics
The saturated‐unsaturated flow generated by injecting water into a soil from a pressurized spherical cavity is modeled mathematically. Approximate solutions are obtained analytically for arbitrary pressure head when the soil water diffusivity varies rapidly with water content. In particular, the relationship between the cavity pressure and cumulative absorption is established, and formulae for the position of the saturation and wetting fronts are derived. The accuracy of these results improves with increasing cavity pressure. Consequently, they are compared with a numerical solution obtained for the case of flow through Hanford sandy loam when the cavity pressure is zero. The solutions prove to be in excellent agreement. The steady state solution is used to evaluate gravity effects and the application of the formulae to injection problems, particularly subsurface trickle irrigation, is briefly discussed.