InterPore2026

Calibration of Suffusion Constitutive Models Using Empirical Critical Hydraulic Gradient Estimation

20 May 2026, 15:35

1h 30m

Poster Presentation (MS19) Uncertainty-Aware Decision Support in Porous Media Applications Poster

Speaker

Muhammad Hamza Khalid (The University of Manchester)

Description

Suffusion refers to the migration of fine particles through the pore network of internally unstable soils under seepage flow. Constitutive models developed for static hydraulic conditions are used to describe fine-particle fluidization in numerical analyses. These models take into account a key parameter i.e., the initiation interstitial velocity, which marks the onset of suffusion and it corresponds to the critical hydraulic gradient. Accurate determination of this critical hydraulic gradient is essential, as it governs the calibration of all subsequent model parameters. However, experimental limitations often prevent extensive testing at relatively low hydraulic gradients, making direct identification of the critical hydraulic gradient difficult. Consequently, reasonable assumptions based on trial-and-error approaches are adopted. In this study, empirical methods are employed to estimate the critical hydraulic gradient to use in the constitutive model. The resulting simulation predictions are compared with the permeameter experiments. The findings highlight the sensitivity of the suffusion predictions to the empirical method, providing insight into the reliability of different approaches for determining the critical hydraulic gradient in internally unstable soils.