Experimental Investigation of Internal Fluidisation Due to a Vertical Water Leak Jet in a Uniform Medium

This paper presents an experimental study on internal fluidisation which can occur in the soil outside of a leak in a buried water distribution pipe. The study proposes an experimental method of measuring excess pore pressure and flow velocity in an uniform glass beads medium surrounding the leak. One flow rate of 2 l/min at a fixed leak diameter of 3 mm was used in the experiments. The results showed large velocities directly outside the inlet (in the fluidised zone), which decreased rapidly with increasing distance. The surplus pressure in the bed rises to a maximum value at the top of the fluidised zone, after which it decreases towards the top of the bed.