Soil Erodibility Rates through a Hydraulic Flume Erosometer: Test Assembly and Results in Sandy and Clayey Soils

Abstract

This paper presents a proposal for erodibility quantitative evaluation through a hydraulic flume based on the Inderbitzen erosion test. The equipment scheme and procedures for result calculation are described, following a review of literature. Through the proposed procedure, 24 tests are conducted, in order to study the erodibility of a sandy soil and a clayey soil, in undeformed and reconstituted conditions. These are conducted using grass roots in controlled quantities, to quantify root effects on erodibility. The results of soil loss by elapsed time and the definition of the erodibility K factor shows that clayey soil is 90% less erodible compared with sandy soil. Also, roots show no significant relationship with K factor and the undeformed sample is less erodible, compared with reconstituted sample. The test methodology and the results allowed soil classification, analytical data and comparative results between different cases.

Modified inderbitzen equipment for simulation of water erosion in undeformed soil samples

“…In order to simulate the effect of rainfall and expand the Inderbitzen test applications, the original procedure was improved throughout time by the development of modified equipment (Fácio, 1991;Silva and Melo, 2016). Despite the existence of numerous tests using modified Inderbitzen equipment, most of them are related to the simulation of soil erodibility for geotechnical purposes (Fácio, 1991;Bastos et al, 1999;Soares et al, 2018;Bandeira et al, 2021;Stresser and Passini, 2023). As soil erosion is the object of study in several areas, including agronomy, geology, geography, and engineering, the development of a device that allows the direct evaluation of the various factors related to soil erosion and that provides reliable results is of the uttermost importance.…”