Testing of

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

Need for Testing

Identification of product
Selection of suitable materials as per the
design specifications or regulations
Quality control during production stage
Quality Assurance during the
construction stage

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Collection of Test Samples

ASTM D4354 Standard Practice for Sampling of
Geosynthetics for Testing
ISO 554 Standard Atmospheres for conditioning
and/or testing specifications
ISO 9862 Geotextile Sampling and Preparation
of Test Specimen
Specimen
IS 14706 Geotextile Sampling and Preparation
of Test Specimen
During production stage,
stage test samples are
collected at uniform intervals for quality control
purposes.
During the construction also,
also test samples are
collected at specified intervals
Number of specimens to be tested is given in
respective standards.
standards
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Identification of the test samples

Identificationofthetestsamples
Brand/producer/supplier
a d/p oduce /supp e
Descriptionofthetype(grade,etc.)
Roll number
Rollnumber
Dateofsampling
The sample shall be kept in a dry dark place
Thesampleshallbekeptinadry,darkplace
protectedagainstchemicalandphysicaldamageat
ambienttemperature.
Samplesshouldbepackedproperlyduringshipping
tothetestinglaboratories.
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Types of Geosynthetic Products

TypesofGeosyntheticProducts

Geotextiles
Geogrids
Geonets
Geomembranes
Pre-fabricated vertical drains (PVD)
Geosynthetic Clay Liner (GCL)
Geocells (3-d confinement)
G b
Geobags/Geotubes
/G t b
Geocomposites & Geo-others
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Geotextile Properties
p

PhysicalProperties
Physical Properties
MechanicalProperties
HydraulicProperties
EnduranceProperties
DegradationProperties
Degradation Properties

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Geotextiles Physical Properties

Specific Gravity
Mass per Unit Area
Thickness
Stiffness

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Specific Gravity ASTM D792

It is the ratio of the substance
substances
s unit volume
weight to that of distilled, de-aired water at 27C
temperature.
Determined by
b Pycnometer
P cnometer method or density
densit
bottle method
Sinkers used for testing materials that float in
water
Typical values
Steel
Soil
Rock
PVC
Polyester
Nylon
Poly ethylene
Polypropylene

7.87
2.7
2.4
1.69
1 22 to 1.38
1.22
1 38
1.05 to 1.14
0.90 to 0.96
0.91

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Mass per unit area (ASTM D5261)

Cut five to ten specimens, each of an
area not less than 10,000 mm2.
Combined total area of not less than
100,000 mm2
Dimensions are measured without
applying any tension
Measure the mass of the samples
accurate
t to
t 0
0.01
01 g
Mass per unit area = total mass/total area
Report in g/m2 to the nearest 0.1
0 1 g/m2

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Thickness (ASTM D5199)

Distance between the upper
and lower surfaces of a fabric
at a pressure of 2 kPa
Expressed in mm
Woven
W
geotextiles
t til
0.25
0 25 tto 1
mm
Nonwoven geotextiles 1 mm
to more than 10 mm
Compressibility is change in
thickness with pressure

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Stiffness
Stiffnessisameasureoftheinteractionbetweenthe
geotextileweightanditsbendingstiffness
Slidea25mmwidestripofgeotextileonaninclined
planeatanangleof41.5 andmeasurethelengthof
theoverhang(L)whenthetipbendsunderitsown
h
h
(L) h
h i b d
d i
weight
Stiffness=(L/2)
Stiffness (L/2)33 massperunitarea(mgcm)
mass per unit area (mg cm)
Subgrade CBRStiffnessrequirements(mgcm)
<05
<0.515000
15000 25000
125000 10000
>21000
2
1000
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Mechanical Properties

Compressibility
p
y
Tensile Strength
Seam Strength
F ti
Fatigue
Strength
St
th
Burst Strength
Tear Tests
Impact Tests
Puncture Tests
Friction Behavior
Pullout Tests
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Compressibility
Compressibilityisthevariationofthethicknessof
geotextile at different normal pressures
geotextileatdifferentnormalpressures
Thicknessofwovengeotextiles isnearlyconstantat
all normal press res
allnormalpressures
Thicknonwoven(especiallyneedlepunched)exhibit
markedreductioninthicknessathigherpressures
Permeabilitypropertiesaredependentonthe
normalpressures

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Koerner (1986)
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Trapezoidal Tear Tests ASTM D4533

TrapezoidalTearTestsASTMD4533
One
Oneoftheteststoascertainconstruction
of the tests to ascertain construction
survivability
Initiallyasmallcutisgiveninthesampleand
Initially a small cut is given in the sample and
theforcerequiredtotearthesampleis
measured
Forceisappliedonthesampleinsuchaway
thattheinitialtearisopenedup.
h h i ii l
i
d
Resultisreportedinforceunits.
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200
100

76

15 mm cut

25
grip along these
edges
g

Width of grips 76
Rate of test: 300 mm/minute
Initial gap between grips: 25

Trapezoidal Tear Test Sample (all dimensions in mm)

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Wedge type grips used for trapezoidal tear test in progress

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Grab Tensile Strength (ASTM D4632)

Construction survivability
test
Especially
p
y for separator
p
applications in pavements
25mm wide Narrow grips
used to perform the test
Test result is force in
Newtons and rupture
strain
Loading
g at 300 mm per
p
minute

100
25

200

75mm
Initial clearance
Initialclearance

25mmwide
grips

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Photos of Grab tension

test

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Tensile Strength Tests on Geotextiles

(ASTM D 4595)

Different Types of Tests

Wide width tests 200 mm wide and 100 mm length
Narrow strip tests 50 mm wide strips used for tests
S
Samples
l
usually
ll gripped
i
d iin roller
ll grips
i
Load applied at 10-20% strain per minute
Result is reported in units of force/unit width and the strain
at p
peak load

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Wide width tensile strength test on geotextiles

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30
25

Force kN//m

20
15

Series2
Series3

10

Series4

5
0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

strain %
Force-strain behaviour of a typical nonwoven geotextile

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 Geotextile tubular structures undergo

large strains due to deformations and
ground movements
Force developed in fabric is very low as
they are not filled completely
Forces depend on the fill
f ratio
Application of geotextile bags and tubes for shore line protection
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Punching Strength ASTM D4833

8 mm diameter probe punched into a stretched
geotextile
Container diameter is 45 mm
Peak load developed is reported in Newtons

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CBR Puncture Test

ASTM D6241 using the same device

Probe is 50 mm diameter
C t i
Container
iis 150 mm di
diameter
t
10 specimens across roll width
St
Strength
th and
d deformation
d f
ti
monitored
it
d
Average value is reported

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Tensile strength from CBR Test data

wide width tensile strength, T f

Fp
2r

Tf = force in kN/m
Fp = punching force, kN
r = radius of CBR plunger
a

Strain at failure, f
x

(xa)
f
* 100
a
x = diagonal distance at failure

a = horizontal distance between

outer edge of plunger and inner
edge of mould
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Stone filled
rope net gabions

Punching strength test on rope net gabions

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45000
40000
35000

Load N

30000
25000

100mmopening2.5mm
150mmopeningrope10mm

20000

150mmopening2.5mm
100mmopeningrope5mm
p
g p

15000

150mmopeningrope5mm
100mmopening10mmrope

10000
5000
0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Strain %
Load-strain data from punching tests on rope nets

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Dynamic Puncture Strength

DynamicPunctureStrength
1
1kgpointedconeofstandarddimensionsis
kg pointed cone of standard dimensions is
droppedfromaheightof1montoastretched
geotextile specimen
geotextilespecimen
Diameteroftheholemadebytheconeis
measured by a graduated cone
measuredbyagraduatedcone
Thelargertheholediameter,largeristhe
constructioninduceddamage
i i d dd

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SeamStrengthTests
Normalsizeofrollwidthis3to5mandlength100m.
g
y
gg
Largersizeareascoveredbyseaminggeotextiles
Preferablythethreadforseamingshouldbesametypeas
thegeotextile polyester,polypropylene,etc.
Singlestitch,doublestitch,Jseam,Butterflyseam,etc.
Seamstrengthisimportantasitmaycontrolthedesigns
Tensilestrengthtestsperformedontheseams
T il t
th t t
f
d th
Procedureissameasthatfornormaltensilestrengthtests
on virgin samples
onvirginsamples
Efficiency=strengthofseam/strengthofvirginmaterial

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Burst Strength (ASTM D3786)

Mullen burst strength stone puncturing
into a separation layer
Inflatable rubber membrane used to
distort the geotextile into a hemisphere
off 30 mm di
diameter.
t
When geotextile cannot deform any
further it will burst.
further,
burst

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Fatigue strength

Tensile strength of coir geotextile after repeated loading

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Summary
Inthislecture,wehavestudiedthetestingfor
In
this lecture we have studied the testing for
twotypesofthepropertiesofgeotextiles.
Physicalproperties
Physical properties
Mechanicalproperties

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