• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.33-38
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• 2015

This study conducted experimental observations of the settling velocity of a coarse particle in water varying material type and particle size and compared the results with preexisting empirical equations. Three types of materials, which are polyacetal, glass and steel, were used in this study and the diameter of particle ranged from 1 mm to 20 mm. Experiment results showed that the settling velocity of coarse particle had a significant difference from Stokes equation which is known applicable for a fine particle smaller than $50{\mu}m$. In addition, the observed particle velocity showed a significant difference when compared with other empirical equations, which was proposed for estimating the settling velocity of a particle regardless of particle size, depending on the material type and particle size. The results from experimental observations indicated that the settling velocity of a coarse particle was relatively in smaller difference to other empirical equations for the particle size smaller than 3 mm, but as the size increased the difference in the settling velocity also increased. This study clearly showed that the settling velocity of a coarse particle velocity can be significantly different depending on particle size and density and the empirical equations may not reliably estimate the settling velocity of a coarse particle so that they should not be used as it is and a verification of them is necessarily before any use. The study results would provide a useful information for a better understanding of settling velocity of a particle in water.