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DARCY'S COEFFICIENT OF
PERMEABILITY AS SYMMETRIC
TENSOR OF SECOND RANK
A. C. LIAKOPOULOS Dr. Eng.

UNESCO College of Engineering , Riyadh


Published online: 04 Jan 2010.

To cite this article: A. C. LIAKOPOULOS Dr. Eng. (1965) DARCY'S COEFFICIENT OF


PERMEABILITY AS SYMMETRIC TENSOR OF SECOND RANK, International Association
of Scientific Hydrology. Bulletin, 10:3, 41-48, DOI: 10.1080/02626666509493405
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02626666509493405

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DARCY'S COEFFICIENT OF PERMEABILITY


AS SYMMETRIC TENSOR OF SECOND RANK
A. C. LIAKOPOULOS Dr. Eng.
Head of the Civil Engineering Dept. at the UNESCO College of Engineering, Riyadh

SYNOPSIS

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The dynamic equation of motion that governs the laminar flow of water through soils is the
empirical equation of Darcy. According to Darcy's equation the velocity of the flowing water is proportional to the hydraulic gradient under which the water is flowing, with the constant of proportionality
being the coefficient of permeability. The interesting question arising is whether or not the coefficient
of permeability is a scalar quantity (having only a magnitude) or a vector (having both magnitude
and direction). It is proved, in the present paper, that the permeability coefficient is neither a scalar
nor a vector but a symmetric tensor of second rank. The fact that the permeability tensor is symmetric
gives rise to great simplifications and permits a simple graphical construction of the tensor ellipsoid.
Having the tensor ellipsoid, the determination of the direction at which the water will flow under a
known imposed hydraulic gradient can be found graphically. In case of isotropic soils (the permeability
coefficient has the same value along any direction) the ellipsoid reduces to a sphere and the tensor
becomes a scalar. In the general case of anisotropic soils the permeability tensor is an entity with nine
elements, six of which are independent representing pure extension or contraction along the three
principal coordinate axes, thus transforming the permeability sphere into an ellipsoid and vice versa.
It should be noted that in anisotropic soils the only directions along which the flow takes place in the
direction of the hydraulic gradient are those of the principal axes of the tensor ellipsoid.
Permeability tests were conducted on anisotropic sandstone samples taken at different directions
with respect to rectangular coordinates. The permeability coefficient values plotted on a two-dimensional polar coordinate graph paper give rise to an ellipse substantiating therefore the tensor concept
of the permeability coefficient. The graphical construction of the tensor ellipse and the use of it in
order to obtain the direction of flow by knowing the direction of the hydraulic gradient is also shown.

INTRODUCTION

The flow of water through soils follows the empirical law of Darcy, according to which
the velocity of the flow v is directly proportional to the hydraulic gradient I, so that

KI

(1)

where the constant of proportionality K is the permeability coefficient of the soil. The total
amount of seepage is :

Q=vAt=KIAt

(2)

where A is the cross-sectional area through which the water is flowing for a t time.
Equations (I) and (2) are very simple to be understood and applied in cases where the
permeability is the same along any direction in the soil mass, (isotropic soil). In such cases
the permeability coefficient is a constant with dimensions the same as those of the velocity
(the hydraulic gradient being dimensionless). So that the permeability of isotropic soils is a quantity having only magnitude and therefore scalar. Unfortunately the soils encountered in nature
behave as anisotropic materials having usually a higher permeability in the horizontal direction than in the vertical direction. The question therefore that arises is whether or not the permeability coefficient for such anisotropic soils remains a scalar quantity. The answer to the
question can be given if one shows that the coefficient of permeability should be neither a
scalar nor a vector but a tensor. In the following pages it is shown that for the general case of
anisotropic soils the permeability coefficient is a symmetric tensor of second rank reducing
to a scalar only in case of isotropic soils. The problem of evaluating the permeability coefficient in the particular direction in which flow takes place is also solved graphically by constructing the permeability tensor ellipsoid and plotting the direction of the imposed hydraulic
gradient.

41

THEORETICAL PROOF

Darcy's equation (1) can be written in vector notation as :


-; =

KI

(3)

indicating that the velocity vector; is K times the magnitude of the hydraulic gradient I and
in the same direction. The vectors 'J and I in rectangular coordinates are written as :

V= Tv, +Jh + KVz


1 = it; + JIy + KIz

and

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where i, i, K are the unit vectors along the x, y, z directions respectively. Consider a fluid
region in which the velocity is a regular function of the position so that the velocity vector at
any point (x, y, z) can be represented by a Taylor series expansion around any other point
(xo, yo, zo). In the three principal coordinate axes such expansion may be written as :
Vx

= Vxo

Vy

Vyo

Vz

Vz
o

+
I

(x-xo) oVx
-ox
l!

(Y-Yo) oVx
-oy
I!

(z-zo) oUx
-OZ
I!

(X-XO)2

2!

02 vx

-ox-2 + ...

(Y-Yo) OVy , (z-zo) OVy , (x-xo)2 02Vy

(x-xo) OVy

-~ ~+--l!- ~T--l!- ~T --~ ox 2

(x-xo) oUz
(Y-Yo) oVz
(z-zo) oVz
-- + - - -- + - - - I!
ox'
I!
oy
I!
OZ

...

(x-xo)2 02
2!
ox

+- ---- - vz
-2 + ...

Since the arbitrary neighboring point (x, Y, z) can be chosen to be very close to the original
point (xo, yo, zo) around which the expansion took place, the second order terms and any
other following high order terms of the series expansion can be neglected. The neglect is
equivalent to the valid assumption that in the velocity field of Darcian flow the components
of the velocity of a point are linear functions of their coordinates, generating in this manner
a field of homogeneous deformation.
In describing, therefore, the space rate of change of the velocity vector there exist nine
components. The initial vector velocity is resolved in the three orthogonal directions x, Y
and z into the three components v, Uy and Vz and each of these velocity components exhibits
a rate of change which varies with the direction in which the change is taking place. The difference between the velocity at the two considered points is characterized by the nine components which are the partial differentials of the three velocity components Ux, Vy and Vz with
respect to the three directions x, Y and z represented as follows :

oVx
ox'

OVy
~'

oVz
ox

OVx
oy

OVy
oy

oVz
oy

OV,r
oz

OVy
oz

oVz
oz

The rate of change of each velocity component should obey Darcy's dynamic equation of
motion (eq. 3). Dealing, therefore, with a homogeneous anisotropic soil the permeability
will have different values along different directions so that the various contributions to the
final velocity vector can be written separately as :
OV,"
ox

42

Kx,rIx
' .

OVx
oy

-- =

KxyI"
.,

OVx
= KTzlz
OZ
.

OVy
-

ox

OVz

ox

KyxIx
.

KzrI x

OVz

oy

KzyIy

where, for example, the term KxyIy is the contribution of the rate of velocity in the x-direction
due to the component of the hydraulic gradient in the y-direction.
The three components of the velocity vector along the three coordinate axes x, y, z can
be written as :
Vx = KxxIx + KxyIy + KxzIz
Vy = KyxIx + KyyIy + Kyzlz
(4)
Vz = KzxIx + KzyI y + Kzzlz

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The velocity V, therefore, is not only different in magnitude but also different in the direction
from the hydraulic gradient 1. Equation (4) is the general case for an anisotropic soil in which
the rectangular axes x, y, z are considered the principal axes of the velocity vector. The nine
coefficients K xz, Kxy, ... characterize the transformation of the components of the hydraulic
gradient vector into the components of the velocity vector. In equation (3) the permeability
is visualized as an operator turning the hydraulic gradient into velocity by the linear modifications of components as shown in equation (4).
The operator K is, therefore, a tensor (permeability tensor) that has an array of nine
coefficients written in the form of a square matrix :
K

KxX
Kyx
K zx

Kxy
K yy
Kzy

Kxz]
K yz
K zz

(5)

and therefore equation (4) can be written as

v=

[~:J
Vz

[f:;:
s-:

~:~
K zy

KXZJ
K
Iy
yz . [IX]

x.;

(6)

t,

When the relation between velocity v and hydraulic gradient 1 is referred to the principal
axes then all the coefficients of the tensor reduce to zero except the diagonal ones:
K=

K XX
0

0
Ky y

0
0

K zz

(7)

and therefore equation (4) reduces to


u =

Vy
Vz

=
=

Kxxlx
Kyyly
K zz I z

or
(8)

When the permeability coefficient has the same value along any direction (isotropic conditions) the tensor
(9)

becomes a scalar and equation (4) reduces to :

v=

tKlx

+ JKIy + kKIz.

(10)

43

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The nine coefficients of the matrix (5) characterize the transformation of the components
of the hydraulic gradient vector into those of the velocity vector. The final result of this transformation is :
(11)
which should be regarded as the generalization of Darcy's equation (1), with the difference
that the permeability coefficient K is considered as a tensor. Therefore, the permeability
coefficient is a homogeneous linear operator (second rank operator) which by operating on
the vector of the hydraulic gradient attached to a given point in the soil mass begets the velocity
vector at the same point. The turning of I into Ii by the operator K follows the linear modification of components specified by expression (6).
The question of whether or not the permeability tensor is a symmetric one can be answered
in the following way. It is known that any tensor characterized by nine terms can be split up
in a symmetric tensor and an antisymmetric (skew) tensor. The symmetrical part of the permeability tensor can be written as :
Kxy
K sy m

lK"

Kyx

Kyy

K'"J

Kzy

K zz

where the arrows indicate the terms that are equal


K x y = K yx,
K xz = K zx and

(12)

K yz

K yz = Kzy

(13)

The symmetric tensor (12) has only six independent elements representing pure extension or
contraction along the three principal coordinate axes. The six terms can transform a sphere
into an ellipsoid. The transformation is obtained by fixing the direction of the principal axes
by the three angles (13) and by fixing the length of the three principal axes with the other three
terms, namely the Krx, K y y and K zz . The physical meaning of the equalities (13) is that the
permeability values of the soil in opposite directions are the same, so that the symmetric
tensor (12) changes the axes without deformation of the system.
The antisymmetrical part of the tensor (skew tensor) is written as

K", ...

1:,,"

lKzx

Kzy

(14)

where the arrows indicate the terms that are equal and opposite to each other. In general,
for any skew tensor the following equalities hold
K x ," = K y y = K zz = 0

(15)
K x y = - K y x , K x z = - K z x , K yz = - K zy

Since the antisymmetric tensor (14) has only three components, its operation on the hydraulic
gradient vector is exactly equivalent to the vector product of two vectors (giving rise to a
new vector normal to the plane formed by the other two). Therefore, it corresponds to a transformation of the angles between the axes themselves and the three terms can be visualized
as the three components of a vector which determines the rotation of the permeability values
in a volume element of the soil.
In Darcy's equation of motion (1), since the velocity vector field
is formed by the
gradient of the scalar hydraulic head it has no rotation (rotation-free field). Therefore, since
there is no rotation, the skew tensor (14) is zero and the permeability tensor (11) is reduced
to the symmetric tensor (12).

44

The fact that the permeability tensor is symmetric gives rise to great simplifications
because it corresponds only to a transformation from the principal axes to another rectangular
system of reference and permits the simple graphical construction of the tensor ellipsoid.
Having obtained the tensor ellipsoid the determination of the velocity direction can be found
by knowing the direction of the hydraulic gradient. The problem, therefore, is to construct
graphically the symmetric linear function
(16)
where K S j' I1l . is a symmetric tensor of second rank.
GRAPHICAL SOLUTION

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Writing equation (16) in matrix notation one has:

"'J [K'r:r
v.y=
Ky:r
[U
Uz
.;

V=

Projecting the hydraulic gradient vector 1 upon the velocity vector v their scalar product
(scalar point function S) is obtained as the sum of the products of their components along
each of the coordinate axes :

1. v =

(hI'

+ j'Iy +

kIz) . (l"u:r

+ ;7J:r +

kuz)

u:rI:r

vyIy

vzIz

(17)

or, because of (16)

j . v = j . K s y l1l .1.

Using the symmetrical tensor (12) equation (17) becomes:

KyyIy

+ 2[K:ryl.dy + KyzIyIz + KezIz!:c] = S


(18)
where S is the scalar point function designating the scalar product of the two vectors Ii and 1.
The components of the velocity vector v according to equations (4) and (12) will be :
= Kc.d~

KzzIz

V:r

K",rl:r + K:ryl y

Vy

KryI.r

Vz

K:rzI.r + KvzIv

+ K:rzIz =

+ KyyIy + KyzIz

+ KzzIz =

oS

2: ~

uU:r

oS

2:-

oVv

(19)

oS

1
-2 -

. oVz

which are the components of! grad S in terms of the components V:r, Vv and Vz as coordinates.
Therefore, one has :

Ii = 7u:c + J'VY + t-; =! grad S.


(20)
Equation (18) with S = const. is an equation of the second degree in the rectangular components of I:r, lv, I z represented by a quadric surface (either ellipsoid or hyperboloid). Since
the values of K:r:r', ... are all positive, the quadric surface is ellipsoid (S = 1), so that:

1. Ii =

1
45

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Fig. 1 - Permeability tensor ellipse of an anisotropic sandstone plotted on a polar diagram and
set in the direction of its principal axes. Graphical determination of the velocity flow vector
based on a given hydraulic gradient direction 7 and the tensor ellipse.

46

and therefore the projection of the vector j in the direction of grad S is the reciprocal of the
magnitude of the velocity vector v. The velocity vector is perpendicular to the surface
S =, const = I in the direction of the outward normal, and the components of the hydraulic
gradient vector define the position of the tip of the vector V. The locus of that tip describes
the surface of the tensor ellipsoid.
Equation (18) is, therefore, written as the equation of ellipsoid with S = 1
2

Kx:cIx

+ KyyIy + KzzIz = 1

or

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K xx

K yy

x.:

or

t;

ly

t,

--+--+--=1

(21)

J;n J J
;yy

;zz

which is the equation of the ellipsoid with semi-axes the inverse square root of the principal
directional permeabilities.
A set of experiments was conducted on an anisotropic sandstone from the area of Beirut
at the Soil Mechanics Laboratory of the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. Samples
were taken at angles of 30 and 60 with respect to a rectangular system of axes and their
permeability coefficients were determined using a constant head permeameter. The results
are plotted on the attached polar diagram which shows clearly the obtained ellipse.
The graphical construction for obtaining the direction of the velocity with any given
direction of the hydraulic gradient is as follows : 1) construct the permeability tensor ellipse
set in the direction of its principal axes, with semi-axes equal to the inverse square root of th~
known K~,x and K yy values; 2) draw the direction of the known hydraulic gradient vector I
passing through the center of the ellipse; 3) draw a tangent line at the point where the hydraulic
gradient vector penetrates the periphery of the ellipse; and 4) draw the normal to the tangent
line at the penetration point. This will be the direction at which the flow takes place.
The only directions along which the two vectors of hydraulic gradient and velocity will
coincide are those of the two principal axes of the ellipse.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The coefficient of permeability in Darcy's empirical dynamic equation of motion is proved


to be a symmetric tensor of second rank. A set of permeability tests was conducted on a homogeneous anisotropic sandstone specimens taken at different directions. The values of the
determined permeability coefficient when plotted on a polar diagram give rise to an ellipse
substantiating therefore the tensor concept of the permeability coefficient. The usefulness of
knowing the permeability tensor ellipsoid is demonstrated by a graphical construction of the
direction at which the flow will occur under a known imposed hydraulic gradient. The direction of flow will coincide with the direction of the hydraulic gradient only along the principal
axes of the tensor ellipsoid.

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HUTTA, J.J. and GRIFFITHS, J.e., "Directional Permeability of Sandstones; a test of technique
Producers Monthly, 19, No. 11 and 12, 1955.
JOHNSON, W.E. and BRESTON, J.N., "Directional Permeability Measurements in Oil Sandstones from
Various States", Producers Monthly, 14, No.4, 1951, pp, 10-19.
JOHNSON, W.E. and HUGI-IES, R. V., "Directional Permeability Measurements and their Significance",
Producers Monthly, 13, No.1, 1948, p. 17.
LEONARDS, G.A., "Engineering Properties of Soils", Chapter 2 in Foundation Engineering, edited by
G.A. Leonards, McGraw-Hili, 1962, pp. 127-133.
LIAKOPOULOS, A., "On the tensor concept of the Hydraulic Conductivity", Review of Engineering,
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LITWINSZYN, J., "Stationary Flows in Heterogeneously Anisotropic Media", Ann. Soc. Pol. Math., 22,
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MAASLAND, M., "Soil Anisotropy and Land Drainage", in Drainage of Agricultural Lands, ed, by
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MARCUS, H. and EVENSON, D.E., "Directional Permeability in Anisotropic Porous Media", Contr.,
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REEVE, R. e. and KIRKHAM, D., "Soil Anisotropy and some Field Methods for Measuring Permeabilitiy ", Trans. of Am. Geoph. Union, 32, 1951, pp. 582-590.
SAMSIOE, A.F., "Einfluss von Rohrbrunnen auf die Bewegung des Grundwassers", (Influence of
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SCHEIDEGGER, A.E., The Physics of Flow through Porous Media, McMillan Co., N.Y., 1960.
SCHEIDEGGER, A. E., "General Statistical Hydrodynamics in Porous Media", Geofisica Pura et Applicata, No. 30, 1955, pp. 17-26.
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VREEDENBURGH, C. G.J" "On the Steady Flow of Water Percolating through Soils with HomogeneousAnisotropic Permeability", Proc. Intel'. Conf Soil Mech., 1936, pp, 222-225.
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