Experimental study and modelling on saturated coefficient of permeability of a geofoam

Geofoam has been widely employed in highway, airport and seaport projects, because of its advantageous properties, i.e. light weight, low cost and high strength. Permeability of geofoam is an important hydraulic property affecting its durability. However, limited experimental data are available on the permeability of geofoam and hence relevant models are absent. In this study, an experimental study was conducted to measure the saturated coefficient of permeability and the volume of open pores of a geofoam. A new equation was proposed to model the saturated coefficient of permeability of the geofoam. The equation was verified by showing good agreement with both experimental data in this study and published results. Two regions (i.e. A and B) can easily be identified for the change of permeability. In region A, the influence of the Vwf/Vf on the saturated coefficient of permeability was not significant. In region B, the saturated coefficient of permeability increased from 1 × 10-8 to 1 × 10-4 m s-1 as Vwf/Vf increased from 0•05 to 0•3.