Investigation of the Relationship between Three- and One-Dimensional Infiltration Using a Mini Disc Infiltrometer

Disc infiltrometer experiments were conducted in the laboratory on two disturbed soils, a loam and a silty clay loam soil, in order to investigate the relationship between three- and one-dimensional infiltration using the proposed equation of Smettem et al. A mini disc infiltrometer of a radius of 45 mm with suction ranged from −5 mm to −70 mm was used. Three- and one-dimensional infiltration tests were performed on repacked cores by applying pressure heads −70, −40 and −10 mm for loam soil, and −30 and −10 mm for silty clay loam soil. Analysis of the results showed that the difference between the three- and one-dimensional infiltration is linear with time confirming the equation of Smettem et al. [1]. Also, this difference is used to calculate the value of an additional infiltration parameter.