Effect of real bentonite cake on slug test analysis for slurry trench wall

The slug test is a viable method in estimating the hydraulic conductivity of the slurry trench wall backfill because of its ability to consider a more representative volume of the backfill and to reflect the in situ performance of the construction. A three-dimensional numerical model is developed to simulate the slug test in a slurry trench wall with the presence of bentonite cake on the interface boundary between the wall and the surrounding soil formation. Influential factors such as wall width (i.e., proximity of wall boundary), well deviation, vertical position of the well intake section, and compressibility of the wall backfill are taken into account in the model. The experimentally obtained hydraulic properties of the bentonite cake are also incorporated in a series of slug test simulations. The simulation results are then examined to evaluate the bentonite cake effect in analyzing practical slug test results in the slurry trench wall. The simulation results show that the modified line-fitting method can be used without any reduction factor for the slug test in the slurry trench wall with the presence of bentonite cake. A case study is reanalyzed with the assumption of existing bentonite cake. The results are compared with the previously reported results by the approaches used for the case of no bentonite cake (constant-head boundary) and upper-bound solution (no-flux boundary). The modified line-fitting method and the type curve method produce similar results for slurry walls with bentonite cakes. The case study results demonstrate the importance of the bentonite cake effect in estimating the hydraulic conductivity of the slurry wall backfill.