new model for predicting saturated hydraulic conductivity and diffusion coefficient of granular soils using fractals

There is a general interest in quantifying soil structure to obtain physically based parameters relevant to transport processes. Fractals offer new opportunities to address the relation between structure and a range of physical processes occurring in the soil. In this paper, a random model matrix satisfying the particle size distribution and porosity of a heterogeneous soil structure is constructed. This model is used to predict the saturated hydraulic conductivity and the diffusion coefficient of granular soil. A comprehensive study is conducted to evaluate the usefulness of the proposed model using fractals by comparing the results with the available experimental data.

Keywords:

fractal , hydraulic conductivity , diffusion