A modified normalized model for predicting effective soil thermal conductivity

Effective soil thermal conductivity ( λ eff ) describes the ability of a multiphase soil to transmit heat by conduction under unit temperature gradient. It is a critical parameter for environmental science, earth and planetary science, and engineering applications. Numerous models are available in t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta geotechnica 2017-12, Vol.12 (6), p.1281-1300
Main Authors: He, Hailong, Zhao, Ying, Dyck, Miles F., Si, Bingcheng, Jin, Huijun, Lv, Jialong, Wang, Jinxin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Complex Fluids and Microfluidics
Computer simulation
Conduction
Conduction heating
Drying ovens
Earth
Engineering
Environment models
Environmental science
Foundations
Geoengineering
Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences
Heat conductivity
Heat transfer
Hydraulics
Modelling
Predictions
Research Paper
Sandy soils
Saturation
Silt
Silt loam
Soft and Granular Matter
Soil
Soil improvement
Soil Science & Conservation
Soil temperature
Soil types
Soil water
Soils
Solid Mechanics
Temperature gradients
Thermal conductivity
Thermal energy
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Summary:Effective soil thermal conductivity ( λ eff ) describes the ability of a multiphase soil to transmit heat by conduction under unit temperature gradient. It is a critical parameter for environmental science, earth and planetary science, and engineering applications. Numerous models are available in the literature, but their applicability is generally restricted to certain soil types or water contents ( θ ). The objective of this study was to develop a new model in the similar form of the Johansen 1975 model to simulate the λ eff ( θ ) relationship of soils of various soil textures and water contents. An exponential type model with two parameters is developed and a new function for calculating dry soil thermal conductivity is presented. Performance of the new model and six other normalized models were evaluated with published datasets. The results show that the new model is able to well mimic λ eff ( θ ) relationship of soils from sand to silt loam and from oven dry to full saturation. In addition, it has the best performance among the seven models under test (with root-mean-square error of 0.059 W m −1  °C −1 , average deviations of 0.0009 W m −1  °C −1 , and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.994). The new model has potential to improve the reliability of soil thermal conductivity estimation and be incorporated into numerical modeling for environmental, earth and engineering studies.
ISSN:1861-1125
1861-1133
DOI:10.1007/s11440-017-0563-z