Analysis of Temperature Effect on Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity of the Chinese Loess

Abstract

Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) is a significant basic hydraulic parameter in the field of soil science. However, it is typically used as a constant, and that will lead to some inaccurate results in numerical simulations of water movement. In this study, a laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of temperature on Ks of Chinese loess. The results indicated that Ks had a special relationship with temperature for this soil: Ks increased in the range of temperatures (t) from 7 to 44 °C. A formula in Forest Standard of China LY/T 1218-1999 can well describe the distribution characteristics of the experimental data, but it may not apply if bulk density changes. The study improved the formula by analyzing another set of published experimental data. In the improved formula, the influence of bulk density and temperature on Ks is fully considered. The results show that the improved formula can be applied to the simulation of saturated water flow by accurately describing Ks variation with temperature and bulk density.

Keywords

• Chinese loess
• saturated hydraulic conductivity
• temperature
• bulk density