GEOSYNTHETICS ENGINEERING: IN

THEORY AND PRACTICE

Prof. J. N. Mandal
Department of civil engineering, IIT Bombay,
Powai , Mumbai 400076, India.
Tel.022-25767328
email: cejnm@civil.iitb.ac.in
Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Module - 3
LECTURE- 12
Geosynthetic properties and test methods

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

RECAP of previous lecture..

Puncture resistance test
Penetration resistance test (drop test)/ tear resistance
Tensile behavior of geogrid
Geogrid rib tensile strength
Geogrid junction (node) strength
Junction strength of geocell
Tensile strength of gabions
Direct shear test on geosynthetic
Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Pullout or anchorage resistance

It is very important to compute the pullout capacity of
reinforcement to ensure stability of any reinforced
structure like reinforced soil retaining wall, reinforced
slopes etc.

Two basic mechanisms are involved to mobilize or transfer

pullout resistance between soil and geosynthetic
1) Interface friction, and
2) Passive resistance
Only interface friction is associated with geotextile
Both interface friction
associated with geogrid.

and

passive

resistance

are

Pullout resistance or anchorage capacity is expressed as the

ratio of pullout force to the width of the sample (kN/m)
Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Pictorial view of pull-out test

Schematic view

Interaction coefficient of geotextile (Ci)

Pr = F/W = 2. L. n. Ci. tan
Ci

Pr
2 L ( h q ) tan

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

FEM analysis of pull-out test on cellular reinforcement

Cellular reinforcement

Stress distribution in cellular reinforcement

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

 Ultimate pullout load was found increasing with

increasing height of the reinforcement up to 30 mm,

Further increase in height shows the decrease in

ultimate pullout resistance.

The optimization analysis shows that the spacing to

height ratio of 3.3 gives the maximum pullout
resistance for cellular reinforcements.

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Example:
Determine interaction coefficient.
The following data is given.
P = 65kN/m; Le= 1m; = 30;
q = 60kpa.
Solution:
n = x h + q = 20x0.3 + 60 = 66 kPa
P = 2 Ci Le n tan
66 = 2xCix1x66xtan30
Ci = (66)/ (2x66x0587) = 0.849
Interaction coefficient = Ci = 0.849
Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Tensile behavior of geomembrane

Smooth high density polyethylene (HDPE) and textured high
density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane are used for
conducting dumbbell shaped tests.
Test specimens are dying
cut from large sheets
ASTM D 638, D 882,
D 6693 (Dumbbell shape)

Dumbbell shaped test specimen

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Tensile behavior of dumbbell shaped geomembrane

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Tensile behavior of wide width shaped Geomembrane is

suitable in plain strain condition and much more design
oriented compared to dumbbell shaped geomembrane

Specimen is 200 wide with

100 mm gauge length
Strain rate = 1 mm/ minute

Wide width geomembrane (ASTM D4885)

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

 Greater width of the specimen minimizes the contraction

edge effect (necking) and provides closer results to actual
material behavior (ASTM D4885).

Tensile behavior of wide width shaped

geomembrane (Smooth and textured HDPE)
Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Tensile behavior of smooth and textured 1.5 mm thick HDPE

geomembrane
Tensile
property

Dumbbell shape
ASTM D638
Smooth Textured

Strength at
yield (kN/m)
Elongation at
yield (%)
Strength at
break (kN/m)
Elongation at
break (%)

Narrow width
(25 mm)
ASTM D882
Smooth Textured

Wide width
(200 mm)
ASTM D4885
Smooth Textured

30.3

27.7

28.0

27.54

26.0

24.0

10.4

9.6

16.5

15.0

15.5

15. 0

28.19

29.5

435

358

> 500

> 500

> 500

> 500

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Tear resistance of Geomembrane (ASTM D 1004, D2263,

D5884, D751, D1424, D1938, and ISO 34)

The specimen has a 90

degree angle.

Tearing resistance of geomembrane (a)

schematic view and (b) pictorial view
Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

 Geomembranes can be joined for seam in shear and

seam in peel test.

Equipments for joining

geomembrane

Some typical seams of

geomembrane
(After Giroud, 1994)

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Hydraulic properties
Porosity
Apparent opening size
Percent open area
Permittivity or cross plane permeability
Transmissivity or In- plane permeability

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Porosity
Porosity (n) = (Volume of void / Total volume) = Vv / V
Total volume (V) = Vs + Vv
Vs = volume of solid = ( m. A) /,
m = mass per unit area (g/m2),
A = Area (m2),
= density (g/m3),
Vv = volume of void,
V = total volume = A. tg
tg = thickness of geosynthetics.
V v V Vs
Vs
n

1
V
V
V

m .A
m

n 1
1
A .t g
.t g

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Apparent Opening Size (A.O.S.) or Equivalent

Opening Size (E.O.S) [ASTM D4751]
Apparent opening size can be measured in four ways:
1. By sieving glass beads
2. By image analyzers (Gours et al. 1982), and
3. By mercury intrusion (Holtz, 1988)
4. By bubble point method (Bhatia et al., 1996)

Pictorial view of the glass beads of different sizes

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

 The size of the beads

which passes by less
than or equal to 5 % is
represented as Apparent
opening size (A.O.S.) or
O95 expressed in
millimeters.
The O95 value is
specifically used for
design of any hydraulic
structure.
Determination of apparent opening
size by dry glass sieving method
Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Apparent opening size of different geotextile filters

Apparent opening size of geotextile decreases with
increase in the weight of geotextile.
Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Percent open area (POA)

Percent open area can be defined as the ratio of total open
area or total voids area of the geotextile to the total area of
geotextile. It is expressed in percentage (%).
POA

Total area of the openings of geotextile

Total area of geotextile

The open area is measured by passing a light through the

geotextile to a poster sized cardboard which is in the form of
a graph sheet. From the graph sheet, number of squares can
be counted. Otherwise, the voids can be mapped by a
planimeter.
Total area is measured by same magnification.
Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

 POA is applicable only for monofilament woven geotextile.

The percent open area (POA) for monofilament and slit

film wovens should be greater than or equal to four
percentage.
As the filaments of non woven geotextiles are closely
tightened and very random, light cannot pass through it
properly and as a consequence, the light passing method is
not suitable for it.

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Please let us hear from you

Any question?

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

Prof. J. N. Mandal
Department of civil engineering, IIT Bombay,
Powai , Mumbai 400076, India.
Tel.022-25767328
email: cejnm@civil.iitb.ac.in

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay