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Moisture Movement in a Clay based Buffer Material under Isothermal Conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

A.M.O. Mohamed,
I. Shooshpasha,
R.N. Yong and
C. Onofrei
A.M.O. Mohamed
Affiliation:
Geotechnical Research Canter, McGill University 817 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, Canada H3A 2K6
I. Shooshpasha
Affiliation:
Geotechnical Research Canter, McGill University 817 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, Canada H3A 2K6
R.N. Yong
Affiliation:
Geotechnical Research Canter, McGill University 817 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, Canada H3A 2K6
C. Onofrei
Affiliation:
AECL Research, Whiteshell Laboratories, Pinawa, Manitoba, Canada ROE 1L0
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Abstract

Several series of one dimensional tests were performed to examine the moisture and soil water potential distributions in the buffer material compacted to a dry density of 1.67 Mg/m3 and volumetric water content of 0.28. Diffusivity parameters were calculated using the measured moisture profiles combined with the finite difference method. Powell’s optimization was used to determine the material parameters.

It is experimentally demonstrated that the moisture distribution is highly dependent on the test boundary conditions. When volume change was allowed to take place during infiltration process, the buffer material adsorbs more water than in the case of no volume change. This is attributed to an increase in hydraulic conductivity by one order of magnitude. As the volumetric water content increases soil water diffusivity increases and soil water potential decreases.

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