Asperities effect on polypropylene & polyester geotextile-geomembrane interface shear behaviour

Abstract

The summary of this paper is focused on the result of a study that used quantitative measures of surface texture as the basis for examining the effects of asperities on the shear characteristics of geotextile-geomembrane interfaces. About 30 large direct shear tests were conducted to evaluate the geotextile-geomembrane interface shear strength properties. The results indicated a non-linear failure envelopes and strain softening behaviour at a normal stress range of 50 – 400 kPa. For most interface tested, the polyester-geotextiles resulted in higher shear strength as compared with polypropylene-geotextiles. Also, the polyester and polypropylene geotextile interface with the high asperity geomembrane produces a similar percentage increase in friction angle at the residual state. For textured geomembranes interfaced with both geotextile, polyester geotextile exhibited relatively less time before failure. Also, asperity height has a more pronounced effect than asperity density on the residual interface shear strength. The outcome of this study would provide a recommendation and guide that can lead to an improved basis for geosynthetics selection in various engineering application.