Abstract
A novel centrifuge set-up for the study of unsaturated flow characteristics in porous media is examined. In this set-up, simple boundary conditions can be used, but a free moving boundary between unsaturated-saturated flow arises. A precise and numerically efficient approximation is presented for the mathematical model based on Richards’ nonlinear and degenerate equation expressed in terms of effective saturation using the Van Genuchten–Mualem approach for the soil parameters in the unsaturated zone. Sensitivity of the measurable quantities (rotational moment, center of gravity and time period to achieve quasi steady state) on the soil parameters is investigated in several numerical experiments. They show that the set-up is suitable for the determination of the soil parameters via the solution of an inverse problem in an iterative way.
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The second and third author confirm financial support by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under contract APVV-0184-10, APVV-0743-10 and VEGA-1/0502/09.
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Malengier, B., Kačur, J., Kišoň, P. (2012). Numerical Model for the Determination of the Soil Retention Curve from Global Characteristics Obtained via a Centrifuge. In: Öchsner, A., da Silva, L., Altenbach, H. (eds) Materials with Complex Behaviour II. Advanced Structured Materials, vol 16. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22700-4_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22700-4_11
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