HR: 0800h
AN: H41B-0414    [Abstracts]
TI: Droplet Speed in Unsaturated Rock Fractures
AU: * Hay, K M
EM: hayk@onid.orst.edu
AF: Oregon State University, 3017 ALS, Corvallis, OR 97331 United States
AU: Dragila, M I
EM: maria.dragila@oregonstate.edu
AF: Oregon State University, 3017 ALS, Corvallis, OR 97331 United States
AU: Cassidy, J R
EM: james.cassidy@oregonstate.edu
AF: Oregon State University, 3017 ALS, Corvallis, OR 97331 United States
AB: In the vadose zone, water moves within unsaturated rock fractures by three modes, capillary rivulets, droplets and free surface films. Laboratory investigations into the characteristics of droplet movement within rock fractures commonly use glass as a rock-analog. This project investigates the effect on droplet speed of natural rock surface and matrix properties. The study has shown that the speed of droplets moving down glass fractures is significantly different than the speed down rock fractures. Prior work showed the effect of a dynamic contact angle when glass fractures and tubes are used. Flow on rock surfaces exhibit much less sensitivity to dynamic contact angle. Experiments were used to develop predictive algorithms to calculate the speed of droplets in unsaturated rock fractures.
DE: 1838 Infiltration
DE: 1875 Vadose zone
DE: 1878 Water/energy interactions (0495)
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005