Capillary Fringe and Unsaturated Flow in a Porous Reservoir Bank
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 130, Issue 5
Abstract
Steady, 2D Darcian seepage from a zero-depth reservoir into a homogeneous porous bank is studied analytically. Using the Green-Ampt assumption for hydraulic conductivity as a function of pressure and the Vedernikov model for the tension-saturated zone, a free boundary problem with the capillary fringe spread along the bank surface is solved. Accurate direct calculations are made for the extent of the capillary rise along a vertical and horizontal bank. Unsaturated flow from a vertical phreatic surface into a bank with either an impermeable or isobaric vertical soil slope is analyzed in terms of the Philip model. Explicit expressions for the Darcian velocity components, stream function, and/or Kirchhoff potential are presented. The flow topology and characteristics are shown to depend strongly on the boundary condition at the soil surface.
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 130 • Issue 5 • October 2004
Pages: 403 - 409
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 ASCE.
History
Published online: Oct 1, 2004
Published in print: Oct 2004
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