Shirtcliffe, Neil, McHale, Glen, Newton, Michael, Pyatt, F. Brian and Doerr, Stefan (2006) Critical conditions for the wetting of soils. Applied Physics Letters, 89 (9). 094101. ISSN 0003-6951
|
PDF (Post-print article)
Postprint_McHale_vol_89_art_094101_2006.pdf - Accepted Version Download (130kB) | Preview |
Abstract
The wettability of soil is of great importance for plants and soil biota and in determining whether flooding and soil erosion will occur. The analysis used in common measurements of soil hydrophobicity makes the assumption that water always enters soils if the average contact angle between the soil and water is 90 degrees or lower; these tests have been used for decades. The authors show theoretically and experimentally that water cannot enter many soils unless the contact angle is considerably lower than this, down to approximately 50 degrees. This difference generates serious errors in determining and modeling soil wetting behavior.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | soil, water repellent, hydrophobic, granular, wattability, porous |
| Subjects: | F200 Materials Science F300 Physics F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences |
| Department: | Faculties > Engineering and Environment > Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering |
| Depositing User: | Glen McHale |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Aug 2012 11:01 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Dec 2023 12:46 |
| URI: | https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/8327 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year
