Testing of

Geosynthetics
continued

Prof K. Rajagopal
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Madras, Chennai
e mail: gopalkr@iitm
e-mail:
gopalkr@iitm.ac.in
ac in

Recap
Earlier lectures have discussed the testing
for the following properties of geotextiles
Physical .. Fundamental material
properties,
p
p
, e.g.
g specific
p
gravity,
g
y, etc.
Mechanical strength properties
Hydraulic permeability properties

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Other Properties of Geotextiles

Abrasion resistance
Durability properties
Melt flow index
Asphalt retention

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Abrasion Resistance ASTM D1175

Abrasion is the wearing away of a part of the material due to
rubbing against another surface
Degradation in strength and material loss may happen due to
continuous
ti
rubbing
bbi with
ith rough
h and
dh
hard
d surfaces
f
d
during
i service
i
life of a geotextile.
Abrasion is especially important in below railway track applications
Rotary platform with a double head fitted with 1000 g vitrified
abrasion wheels is used in this test. Geotextile is a disk shaped
sample with 90 mm outer diameter and 60 mm inner diameter.
After 1000 cycles of rotation, strip tensile strength tests are
performed
Abrasion resistance is expressed as the ratio of the tensile
strength of the abraded sample with that of the virgin sample.
Typical loss of tensile strength is about 40% after 1000 abrasion
cycles.
Loss in weight is also reported after the abrasion tests
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Abrasion by sand paper (ASTM D4886)

Theabrasioninthistestisinducedbyrubbing
alineargeotextilesamplebyasandpaper
Lossinweightandtensilestrengthafter750
y
p
abrasioncyclesisreportedastheabrasion
loss.

Schematic of an
abrasion testing device
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Durability tests on geotextiles

Accelerated Durability Studies on Geotextiles

Wetting of samples in seawater

during nights

Drying of samples in sun light

d i d
during
day ti
time

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Results from alternate wetting and drying

WOVENG/T(WHITE)

WOVENG/T(BLACK)

GEOCOMPOSITE

NON
NONWOVEN
WOVEN

TEENSILESTREENGTH(kN//m)

350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
0

20

40

60

80

100

TIME(DAYS) No.ofcycles
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Tests on paver or overlay fabrics

Testsonpaveroroverlayfabrics
Paver
Paveroroverlayfabricsareusedinsurface
or overlay fabrics are used in surface
treatmentofpavementsforprotectionofsurface
Preventsthepropagationofcracksfromold
Prevents the propagation of cracks from old
pavementsectiontothenewoverlaysection

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Use of overlay fabrics for protecting pavements

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P
Pavement
t surface
f
with
ith overlay
l fabric
f bi

Typical alligator cracks

on the pavement
surface

Pavement surface without overlay fabric

Performance of asphalt pavements with and without overlay fabrics
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Cyclic load tests to study the propagation of reflected cracks

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Typicalresultsfromlaboratorytestsoninfluenceofgeosynthetic
layer on reflection cracking (Khodaii etal.2009)
layeronreflectioncracking(Khodaii
et al 2009)
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Melting point of paving fabrics

o When geosynthetics are used in flexible pavements
they
y come in contact with hot asphalt during
g
construction.
o Geotextiles should not undergo structural changes
due to exposure to excessive heat during
construction.
o The temperature at which the fibres melt can be
determined from this test.
o Differential
Diff
ti l S
Scanning
i C
Calorimeter
l i t (DSC) can b
be used
d
to determine the melting point of the polymer as
thermal transition point
point.
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Asphalt retention of paving fabrics

(ASTM D6140)
This test determines how well the geotextile can bond with
asphalt
h lt
Geotextile samples of 100 200 mm size are taken
They are submerged in bitumen at 1352C
1352 C for 30 minutes
The saturated specimens are hung in the same oven at the
same temperature for 30 minutes from one end and for
another 30 minutes from another end
Then the test specimens are cooled for 30 minutes and
weighed to the nearest 0
0.1g.
1g
Asphalt retention = (Wsat Wo) /Ag where Wsat is the saturated
g of the sample (g)
(g), Wo is original
g
weight
g of the sample
weight
(g) and Ag is the area of the sample in m2.
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Tests on Geogrids

Aperture
p
opening
p
g & Percent Open
p
Area
Thickness of rib and juctions
per meter length
g
Number of ribs p
Mass per Unit Area
Tensile strength
Interface frictional strength
Shear
pullout
ll t

Connection strength between facing

blocks and geogrids
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Biaxialcompositegeogrid
nodes

nodes
Aperture
opening sizes
bars

ribs

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Uniaxial geogrid

transversebars
b

ribs

Elongated apertures with very long ribs and short bars

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Thickness &
No. of ribs and bars per unit length

Thicknessofbars
Thickness
of bars
Thicknessofribs
Thicknessofnodes
hi k
f d
Counttheno.ofribsandbarspermetre
lengthbyspreadingthegeogrid onaflat
surface

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PercentOpenArea
Samples of at least 200 mm 250 mm
representative of the geogrid are cut from the roll
The geogrid pattern is drawn on a piece of paper
Weigh the paper with the grid pattern accurate to
0.001 g
Cut out the grid opening areas from the paper
Weigh the cut out portions
Percent Open Area is the ratio of the weight of the
cut out portions to the total weight of the paper
multiplied by 100.
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Mass per Unit area

MassperUnitarea
Same procedure as used for geotextiles is
applicable for the Mass per Unit Area of
the geogrids also.
also
The value is
expressed in units of g/m2.

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Tensile Strength of Geogrids

TensileStrengthofGeogrids
ASTM
ASTMD4595(minimumwidthof200mmand
D4595 (minimum width of 200 mm and
gaugelengthof100mm,etc.)
ASTMD6637(singleribormultiribs)
ASTM D6637 (single rib or multi ribs)
Loadingofsamplesatstrainrateof103%
strainperminute
i
i
Loadatdifferentdeformationsismeasuredto
plotagraphbetweenthestrainonxaxisand
load/monyaxis
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ASTM D6637
ASTMD6637

Three junctions or 300 mm

length
g

M th d A using
Method
i single
i l rib
ib ttesting
ti
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Three junctions or 300

mm length

Method-B
Method
B using multi-ribs
multi ribs testing
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extensometer

Gauge
length
g for
strains

Fixed clamps

Roller clamps

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Differenttypesofgrips

Roller grips

Spacerblock

Special grips used for

testing extruded geogrids
grid is held in position
d tto the
due
th elongated
l
t d
nodes width of the
spacer blocks is changed
for different geogrids
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Trapezoidal grips

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Tensile Strength Test of a knitted geogrid using roller

clamps as per Method-A single rib test - geotextile padding
given at supports to promote rupturewithin the gauge length
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Tensile strength
Tensilestrength
Tensilestrengthofgeogrid
Tensile strength of geogrid permeterwidth
per meter width
= Peak tensile load x
No. of ribs per meter width/No. of ribs in the test

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Installation Damage of Geogrids

(ASTM D 5818)
Geogrids undergo damage during the construction
The amount of damage depends on the type of aggregate,
aggregate level
of compaction, type of compaction equipment and construction
practices
The installation damage factor is specified after extensile field
tests for site specific conditions
ASTM 5818 recommends that the results from at least 20 tests
should be used to determine the installation damage factor
Typical damage factors are:
for use in gravel/aggregate=1
gravel/aggregate=1.1
1 to 1.2
12
for use in fine soils 1.05 to 1.1
for railway track applications, the damage factor could be much higher
g angular
g
p
particles
because of the large
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Field tests to determine the installation damage factor

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Field tests to determine the installation damage factor

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Tests on Geonets & Other drainage

Products
Geonets are predominantly used for erosion control works or
for drainage purposes
The in plane permeability of the geonets is evaluated using the
procedure as applicable to geotextiles
The normal pressures should correspond to the expected
normal pressures in the construction

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Tests on Geomembranes
Thickness
Density
Tensile strength/elongation
g
g
Permeability
Peel tests on seams
Shear tests on seams
Sh

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Thickness
Thi
k
off a Geomembrane
G
b
(ASTM D5199)
Size of geomembrane sample is minimum 75 mm diameter
Applied pressure is 20 kPa on a footer plate of diameter
6.35 mm
For thick or stiff geomembranes, higher pressures as much
as 200 kPa mayy be used
For textured geomembranes, the thickness is measured
between the projections

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Density
D
it off G
Geomembranes
b
(ASTM D792)
Densityy of geomembranes
g
is determined as
applicable for plastic materials using weights to sink
them in water as per ASTM D792.

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doublewelded
seam

Directionofloadsfortheshearstrengthofaseam

seam

Direction of loads for the peel strength of a seam

Determining the Shear and Peel strengths of a seam

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Tensile strength and elongation at break of

geomembranes (ASTM
g
(
D638))
Geomembranes are subject
j
to
severe strains during their service
life due to heat from the atmosphere
and also the heat produced by the
decay of waste products in landfills
Th
They should
h ld b
be able
bl tto elongate
l
t tto
more than 500% without rupturing
Dumbbell shaped
p are cut from
geomembrane sheets using sharp
dies
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