Abstract
In this study, column tests were carried out to measure the coefficients of molecular diffusion of high plastic kaolin clay with different void ratios and numerical analyses were conducted to estimate the accuracy of the measured dispersion coefficients. The result of column tests showed that hydrodynamic dispersion in the clay was mainly caused by the molecular diffusion and the trend between the void ratio and the dispersion coefficients was similar to that between void ratio and hydraulic conductivity. From the numerical analyses, it was found that the precision of measurement of dispersion coefficients depended on the vertical distributions of physical properties of clay sample and the accuracy of the initial and boundary condition in column tests.
