Bench-scale centrifuge testing to determine the hydraulic conductivity of clayey soils

The purpose of this research is to validate a mathematical model for flow through saturated and unsaturated porous media using a bench-scale centrifuge for an accurate determination of the hydraulic conductivity (function of the saturation degree of a soil) within a limited time at a reasonable price. The aim of this paper is to show preliminary results of this investigation where the validation and calibration of the mathematical model is performed determining the hydraulic conductivity of saturated porous media, such as kaolin clay and glass porous filters, with a bench-scale centrifuge