Characterization of Hydraulic Behaviours of Coarse Rock Materials in a Large Permeameter

Farzad Ferdos, James Yang, Anders Wörman

Hydraulic Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden 2Principal Engineer, Vattenfall Research and Development (R&D), ?lvkarleby, Sweden.

DOI: 10.4236/gep.2013.13001                

Abstract

The hydraulic behaviour of a rock material structure is a major feature for its design and safety assess- ment. Similar to all other physical problems, in order to enclose the governing equations systems and achieve a solution, the hydraulic characteristics of these materials need to be determined experimentally and implemented then into adopted thermo-dynamical models. This paper covers the process of the design, construction and operation of an experimental rig built for this specific purpose. Using the constructed large-scale permeameter, tests have been conducted. The non-linear hydraulic behaviour of various mate- rials under extreme turbulent conditions, where Reynolds number reaches unprecedented values, has not been studied before. Preliminary results are presented and discussed.

Keywords

Experimental Study; Permeameter; Coarse Rock Material; Turbulent Flow; Reynolds Number

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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