Determination of soil parameters based on mathematical modelling of centrifugation (Q2263746)

Summary: We investigate the infiltration of water into a partially saturated medium and the corresponding inverse problem. The soil parameters in the van Genuchten-Mualem empirical formula for capillary-pressure relation are determined. Only the global infiltration characteristics for a porous medium sample (in one dimension) are collected during centrifugation. An original and reliable centrifugal scenario is proposed, requiring non-invasive and inexpensive measurements of the centrifugal force and the amount of infiltrated and expelled water from the sample during centrifugation. Therefore, it is sufficient to measure only the time points when centrifugal force reaches prescribed values controlled on the counterbalancing arm. In a series of experiments, we simulate the solution of the inverse problem, demonstrating the applicability of the method.