The coefficient of permeability is a crucial property of soil hydraulic functions to study seepage flow in unsaturated soil, and it is determined by a steady-state or a transient method. The steady-state method is time-consuming and usually results in a low coefficient of permeability, while the typical transient instantaneous profile (IP) method can directly measure unsaturated coefficient of soil permeability within a shorter time. This project proposes simplifying the IP method, performing the coefficient computation without the need to measure, control, or assume any boundary flux during evaluation.
The team selected PLAXIS to perform numerical and seepage analysis, considering two different boundary conditions for different types of soil, verifying the validity of the novel, simplified transient method. The solution proves the simplified technique requires a shorter duration for conducting the permeability test.