Flow in unsaturated porous media is commonly described by the Richards equation. This equation is strongly nonlinear due to interrelationships between water pressure head (negative in unsaturated conditions), water content and hydraulic conductivity. The accuracy of numerical solution of the Richards equation often depends on the method used to estimate average hydraulic conductivity between neighboring nodes or cells of the numerical...

The paper presents a 2D upward infiltration experiment performed on a model porous medium consisting of fine sand background with two inclusions made of coarser sands. The purpose of the experiment was to investigate the effects of structural air trapping, which occurs during infiltration as a result of heterogeneous material structure. The experiment shows that a significant amount of air becomes trapped in each of the inclusions. Numerical...

Flow in flood dikes, earth dams, and embankments occurs in variably saturated conditions, with pores of the earth material filled partly with water and partly with air. In routine engineering analysis, the influence of pore air is neglected and the air pressure is assumed equal to atmospheric. In some circumstances, for example, during overtopping of the dike by water, the effect of pore air on water flow and stability of the structure...