Flujo en medio poroso

Redes de flujo (Flow nets)

DEFINITION

Flow nets are a graphical solution to the Laplace equation:

Two families of curves: 1) Flow lines: Represent the paths that water would flow. 2) Equipotential lines: Lines of constant total head.

Flow Nets

Groundwater flow system can be represented by a 3-d set of equipotential surface (flow lines if in 2-d) and flow lines that intersect at right angles. The flow net should be constructed so that the flow lines and equipotential lines define a curvilinear square.

Flow Nets
Or, for vertical flow in an unconfined aquifer,

If K is uniform and the water table thickness does not vary significantly

Rules for Constructing Flow Nets

1) Flow always occurs in the direction of maximum drop in total head. Therefore, flow lines and equipotential lines should intersect at 90 angles. 2) Cells formed by the flow lines and equipotential lines should have a uniform length to width ratio.

Sketching a flow net

the boundary condition. Make sketch so that 2 axes will have the same scale. Draw trial lines, outflow lines should parallel to no flow boundary. Make sure flow channels have equal width. Draw trial E.P. lines perpendicular to flow lines, E.P. lines should parallel to constant head boundary. E.P. line space and flow lines space should be equal. Thus, E.P. lines and flow lines form curvilinear square. Fine draw. 6
Identify

Flow Rate

for one flow channel:

htotal = total head loss through region ne = number of equipotential drops

Flow Rate, cont.

For all flow channels:

nf = number of flow channels q = total flow through all channels if b = l (square elements)

Example of a Simple Flow Net

Steady- State horizontal flow through a sand aquifer confined by layers of clay (same as previous example), with Ksand = 10-4 m/s and n = 0.3

flow line from entrance to exit Draw equipotential lines which are perpendicular to the flow line and divide the BVP into squares
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Start by drawing a

Example of a Simple Flow Net

What direction is flow along the top and the bottom of the sand layer? Lets look at 1 streamtube

dx = distance between two equipotentials dh = head drop between two equipotentials dm = width of stream tube = area per meter to stream tube Q = volumetric flow rate through sand layer Equation for one streamtube is
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Example of a Simple Flow Net

dm = dx if flow net is drawn with squares, so they cancel out, as shown below

Total flow for system, QT

Q = - K dh

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Now, calculate Total Flow, QT Specific Discharge, q Average flow velocity, Average residence time, t

dh = Head drop between two equipotentials m = Number of stream tubes

QT = mQ = mKdh

Rules for Flow at Boundaries

a) Impermeable boundary (no-flow across boundary) flow lines are parallel to boundary equipotentials are perpendicular to boundary b) Constant Head Boundary flow lines are perpendicular to boundary equipotentials are parallel to boundary c) Water Table Boundary angle of flowlines or equipotentials is unknown hydraulic head along each equipotential equals the elevation where equipotentials intersects water table. h = z at water table

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Examples of Boundary Conditions

a) Impermeable or No-Flow Boundaries q = 0 and h/x = 0 across the boundary therefore flow must be parallel to impermeable boundaries

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Examples of Boundary Conditions

3 types of impermeable or no flow boundary

1) low K deposit 2) symmetry (due to geometry of flow system) 3) flow lines (because flow cannot cross a flow line!) b) Constant Head boundary h = constant at all points on boundary so h/x along boundary = 0

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Example at a dam

Examples of Boundary Conditions

Example at lake or river

c) Water Table Boundaries

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- at water table h = z and = 0 but q and h/x are unknown - h between equipotentials on WT must be constant h1 = h2 = h3 =

Examples of Boundary Conditions

determining position and slope of WT is difficult and a major source uncertainty. approaches to determine WT 1. measure WT 2. guess 3. vadose zone flow modeling

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Drawing Flow Nets

Rules for a homogeneous isotropic steadystate flow system: a) Flowlines and equipotentials are always perpendicular and form curvilinear squares. b) Equipotentials are perpendicular to impermeable boundaries. Flowlines are parallel to impermeable boundaries. c) Equipotentials are parallel to constant head boundaries. Flowlines are perpendicular to constant head boundaries.

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Drawing Flow Nets

d) Water table boundaries h = z direction of equipotentials or flowlines is unknown and can be any direction. But positions where equipotentials intersect water table are controlled and they should intersect at equal increments of elevation. e) Flow lines can never intersect. f) Each stream tube must carry the same amount of flow (excluding partial stream tubes) when flow lines are equally-spaced. g) For homogeneous, isotropic systems the shape of the flownet is independent of K.

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Drawing Flow Nets

a) Identify boundary conditions
o o

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b) Think! Where does GW enter? Leave? All flowlines must enter and exit. c) Look for symmetry, which could reduce size of problem. Always choose the smallest possible region for flownet. d) Draw your first flowline(s) and then stop to see if they make sense (see b). Occasionally you might draw equipotentials first. e) Draw rest of flow lines and equipotentials obeying all rules and trying to get curvilinear squares. NOTE: it is much more important to observe all rules than to get nice squares.

if water table boundary, measure elevations usually draw boundaries and WT elevations in ink and do rest in pencil.

Summary of Flow Net Equations

Cross-section

m = number of stream tubes dh = head drop between adjacent equipotentials

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Htube = head drop between inlet and outlet of stream tube nhead = number of head drops or equipotentials along length of stream tube

Summary of Flow Net Equations

Plan View

m = number of streamtubes T = Kb transmissivity b saturated thickness of unconfined aquifer, or b = thickness of confined aquifer

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Flow Nets
The Laplace Equation is solved graphically using a flow net Example

2-D flow in the vertical so we can solve using a flow net

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Flow Nets

First establish boundary conditions

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Flow Nets

Draw flow lines at equipotential boundaries and then a few flow lines through the system

Draw flow lines and equipotentials in between original lines and adjust

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Flow Nets

Calculating flow rates

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Flow Nets

Calculating flow rates

Flow between two flow lines is:

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But W = L, so

Flow Nets
Total flow is

Calculating flow rates

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Flow Nets

Calculating flow rates

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Flow Nets
Compounding flow nets
Solutions of Laplaces Equation may be superimposed by adding the head values to evaluate the net response of a more complex system For example, consider the case of a well pumping water out of a uniform confined aquifer

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Flow Nets
Compounding flow nets

The flow net for a single well pumping is Label equipotentials

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Flow Nets
Compounding flow nets

Equipotentials for a well recharging at the same rate as the pumping well is If both well are located close to each other

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Flow Nets
Compounding flow nets

Equiponetial values are added to get net effect Equiponetial values are added to get net effect

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Flow Nets
Compounding flow nets

Equiponetial values are added to get net effect

Equiponetial values are added to get net effect

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Flow Nets
Compounding flow nets

Flow lines can then be drawn to get flow net

The fact that we can add groundwater flow solutions together to get a net effect allows us to deal with complex boundary effects, as we will see later in the course

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FLOW NETS
Equipotentials are usually denoted by h1, h2, .... (or 1, 2, ...) and flow lines by 1, 2, ... Thus we can determine the discharge between two flow lines,

where

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Q1 flow rate between 1 y 2 A area of the flow tube K hydraulic conductivity L1 distance between equipotentials 1, and 2

FLOW NETS

The rates of flow can be inferred from flow nets if the hydraulic conductivity is known. Often the total volumetric rate of flow (Q) can be calculated by:

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where, Nf number of flow channels Ne number of equipotential drops H = Ne h total head drop Multiplied by the length of the section considered (for example, to determine Q under a dam, wed multiply by the length of the dam)

Rules:
1. Head drops between adjacent equipotentials

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must be constant (or, in those rare cases where this is not desirable, clearly stated, just as in topographic contour maps)! 2. Equipotentials must match known boundary conditions. 3. Flow lines can never cross. 4. Refraction of flowlines must account for differences in hydraulic conductivity. 5. For isotropic media a. Flow lines must intersect equipotentials at right angles. b. The flow line-equipotential polygons should approach curvilinear squares, as shown
Polygons approach curvilinear squares

Rules:
6. The

quantity of flow between any two adjacent flow lines must be equal. 7. The quantity of flow between any two stream lines is always constant. Procedure (Harr, 1962, p.23): 1. Draw the boundaries of the flow region to scale so that all equipotential lines and lines that are drawn can be terminated on these boundaries.

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Rules:
2. Sketch lightly three or four streamlines, keeping in mind that they are only a few of the infinite number of curves that must provide a smooth transition between the boundary streamlines. As an aid in spacing of these lines, it should be noted that the distance between adjacent streamlines increases in the direction of the larger radius of curvature. 3. Sketch the equipotential lines, bearing in mind that they must intersect all streamlines, including the boundary streamlines, at right angles and that the enclosed figures must be (curvilinear) squares.
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Procedure
4. Adjust the locations of the streamlines and the quipotential lines to satisfy the requirements of step 3. This is a trail-and-error process with the amount of correction being dependent upon the position of the initial streamlines. The speed with which a successful flow net can be drawn is highly contingent on the experience and judgement of the individual. A beginner will find the suggestions in Casagrande (1940) to be of assistance. 5. As a final check on the accuracy of the flow net, draw the diagonals of the squares. These should also form smooth curves which intersect each other at right 40 angles.

Example 2

Flow net showing the topographic control of groundwater flow (Hubbert, 1940)
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Example 3

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Examples of flow nets: a) flow in the x-z plane of a pervious stratum underlying a dam b) flow toward a discharging well in the xy plane as influenced by a line source (constant head boundary). (Domenico & Schwartz)

Example 4

Some common errors include (a) equipotentials entering or exiting 43 a no-flow boundary, and (b) disappearing flow lines.

Example 5

Flow conditions in the vicinity of a lake demonstrating the effect of a high permeability layer at depth 44

Anisotropic Soils

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Computing Pressures

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Mathematics

Steady state: conservation of mass, continuity equation, stream function (), streamlines. Energy balance: Potential function (), total head lines, irrotational flow (flow around a curve by distortion rather than rotation).

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Laplaces Equation for & .

Streamlines
Seepage velocity vector is tangent to streamline. Streamlines cannot cross. Commence on inflow boundary, finish at outflow boundary. Streamlines have constant stream function value.

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Streamlines
stream function value dQ = 2 - 1

Unconfined flow: y1 is a boundary streamline

Stream tube

dQ
2

Seepage velocity

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Streamlines and stream function (x,y)

Two streamlines define a streamtube. Streamtube width is inversely proportional to local seepage velocity. Difference in in stream function value equals the discharge between two streamlines defining the stream tube.

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Total head lines

Total head = - / k Lines of constant value of potential function. Zero hydraulic gradient zero flow orthogonal to streamlines (cross at right angles).

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Equipotential/Total head lines

= equipotential value = - H*k m3/s/m

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Flownet definition
Selection of streamlines and total head lines. Constant difference in stream function values between all streamlines. Constant difference in potential function values between all total head lines. Same difference value for both stream function and potential function.

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Flownet definition2
Streamlines = 24 = 27 = 30

= 33
dq = 3

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Equipotential lines (constant Total Head)

dq = 3

= 11 =5 =8

Flownet features
Orthogonal net. Inscribed circles. Diagonals to curvilinear squares form another orthogonal net. Ratio of number of streamtubes to number of potential drops is constant for a given flow boundary.

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Flownet Examples

Based on explicit functions for total head and stream function.

Prior to the advent of cheap computers much mathematical effort was expended on techniques to allow explicit equations to fit a wide range of boundary geometries.

Basis:
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For a given boundary geometry, only ONE true flownet exists. Find the true flow net by trial and correct.

Strategy

Identify the two streamlines and two total total head lines that define the problem. For 4 or 5 STREAM TUBES draw the 3 or 4 internal streamlines. Draw TOTAL HEAD lines to attempt to form curvilinear squares (a true flownet). Adjust the trial lines to get better curvilinear squares.

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Confined Flow example

Boundary total head lines Total head difference

Pervious Boundary streamlines Impermeable

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Cross-section to scale: 10 mm = 1 m.

W1

E F

A
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Datum RL 60m

Flownet Interpretation
Discharge (m3/sec/m) Pore pressure Hydraulic gradient.

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Discharge per unit width

(Q m3/sec/m)
Q = k.HL.(N /N)

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k - coefficient of permeability. HL - drop in Total Head across flow. N - number of stream tubes. N - number of potential drops. Note N might not be an integer.

N = 3 N = 8

Q = k.HL.(N /N) = 7 x 10-5 . 4 .(3/8)

= 10.5 x 10-5 m3/s/m
HL = 4 m

0 0 1 1

8 7

K = 7 x 10-5 m/s

2 3 4 3 5

2
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Pore Pressure u at a point

Identify total head value of all constant total head lines relative to datum. Find total head at point by interpolation H. Identify elevation head of point z.

u = (H - z) * w (w = unit weight of water)

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u = (H - z) * w

uA =(92.5 80)*9.8 = 123 kPa

uB =(91.75 83)*9.8 = 86 kPa

RL93m RL92.5m H=93m RL91.75m RL91m H=91m

H=91.25m H=92.75m RL80m RL83m

B
H=91.5m

H=92.5m H=92m 64 Total head datum = RL 0m H=92.25m H=91.75m RL72m

Hydraulic gradient at a point - i

Interpolate streamline through the point. Determine difference in total head between constant total head lines either side of point dH. Measure real distance between these constant total head lines along the interpolated streamline dL i = dH /dL

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dH = 0.5m

(-)iC = dH /dL = 0.5 / 4.5 = 0.11

RL95m

RL91m H=95m H=91m

H=91.5m H=94.5m

dL = 4.5m

C
H=92m H=94m H=93m 66 Total head datum = RL 0m H=93.5m H=92.5m RL72m

Upward seepage flow: Critical hydraulic gradient at exit - Icrit

Liquifaction of soil may occur if the exit hydraulic gradient exceeds a critical value such that effective stress equals zero.
Icrit = (Gs - 1)/(e +1) Gs - Specific gravity of soil particles e - Void Ratio Icrit ~ 1.0

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Numerical Solutions

Finite element grid for numerical solutions of seepage below a dam (from SEEPW) and typical output from a finite element seepage analysis (from SEEPW)
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70

Seepw solution

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50

40

A
5.8120e-003
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

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20

10

0 90 100 110 120 130 140 150

Other typical output from a finite element seepage analysis (from SEEPW) 69

Feet

Conclusion: flow net sketching

Limited to isotropic soils, homogeneous flow Quick, simple equipment, Analysis of multiple geometry for design. Check on computer packages.

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Numerical Flow Modeling

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based on numerical approximation methods (usually finite element or finite difference) to solve the appropriate groundwater flow equation requires that flow system be represented as a boundary value problem a variety of models available well-suited for heterogeneous or anisotropic systems (that are difficult to solve with flow nets) and for irregularlyshaped systems some models allow for transient flow plan view or cross-section models available usually 2D, but some 3D models available the accuracy of predictions based on a numerical model is usually limited by the amount and reliability of the hydrogeological data, particularly K, and by the boundary conditions

Finite Difference Flow Models

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Define hydraulic boundary conditions Specified head conditions (Dirichlet) constant head boundary water table Specified flux conditions (Neumann) q = 0 at impermeable or symmetry boundary q = f(x,y,z) known flux, can represent recharge at water table, well, river, etc. Assign material properties (K,T,S,Sy) for different layers or regions. Can be anisotropic Specify initial head conditions for transient flow FD models are relatively simple and widely used

Popular flow models include:

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MODFLOW available from US Geological Survey versatile (2D, 3D, transient, etc.) inexpensive (free) difficult to use, poor graphics Visual MODFLOW proprietary version of MODFLOW easier to use, expanded graphics cost $1000 /copy FLOWPATH 2D plan view, steady-state easy to use, but less versatile cost $700 FLONET/FLOTRAN 2D cross-section, steady-state easy to use, but less versatile cost $700 Numerous others

Flow Net Construction

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Flow Net Construction

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