Sample Ventilation
- Taylor McDougall
Analytics
Saturation tubes with geotextile embedded in Monterrey Sand
Saturation tubes have a geotextile attached at the end to prevent fine Nevada sand particles from entering and clogging the tubes. Monterrey sand is used because they are larger and prove to be successful in not passing through the geotextile. Use of small mounds of Monterrey sand is common in model construction to remediate this issue.
An empirical test was done to see the effectiveness of a ventilation tube on the left saturation tube while the other two tubes had no ventilation. The test was done both under atmospheric conditions and under a vacuum. They both yielded consistent results proving the ventilation technique to be effective. All media observed on this page was taken from atmospheric conditions because the lighting made it easier to record. The following picture helps to show how the ventilation tube was applied to the saturation system:
Vent Tube Before Nevada Sand Was Pluviated
The ventilation tube is placed on the top corner of the Monterrey sand at the Nevada-Monterrey interface. This location is important because the Monterrey sand is saturated from the bottom upward causing the air to be pushed upward towards the top portion of the Monterrey-Nevada interface. Nevada sand has a higher affinity for water so once the liquid finds a Nevada sand interface, it quickly saturated around the Monterrey sand causing air bubbles to become trapped. The placement of the ventilation tube at this location maximizes its effectiveness in releasing unwanted air pockets and keeping the saturation process constant.
The following series of pictures shows the saturation of the model in chronological order showing the effectiveness of a ventilation tube in saturation. The ventilation tube is on the left while the right side remained unventilated.
Before Saturation
Air becomes trapped between sand interfaces as water is sucked around it
Ventilation tube proves effective in dissipating air bubbles
Air bubbles still observed in the non-ventilated interfaces
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