Dynamic Shear Strength of GMX/GCL Composite Liner for Monotonic Loading
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 7
Abstract
This paper presents an experimental investigation of the dynamic shear strength of a composite liner consisting of a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) textured geomembrane (GMX) over a hydrated nonwoven/nonwoven needle-punched geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) for monotonic (i.e., single direction) loading conditions. Displacement-controlled shear tests were conducted using a large direct shear machine for five normal stress levels ranging from 13 to 2071 kPa and five shear displacement rates ranging from 0.1 to . GCL internal failures occurred at high normal stress and low displacement rate. As normal stress decreased or displacement rate increased, failure mode transitioned to the GMX/GCL interface. Peak strength envelopes are slightly nonlinear (concave-down) and show dependence on displacement rate at higher normal stress. Large-displacement strength envelopes show greater dependence on displacement rate at higher normal stress due to the effect of changing failure mode. The standard displacement rate for static shear tests of GMX/GCL composite liners () yielded conservative values of peak shear strength but unconservative values of large-displacement shear strength for some normal stress conditions. The GMX/GCL composite liner experienced significant post-peak strength reduction for all test conditions.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
Financial support for this investigation was provided by Grant No. CMMI-0800030 from the Geotechnical Engineering Program of the U.S. National Science Foundation and a grant from CETCO of Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Geomembrane materials were provided by Agru America of Georgetown, South Carolina, and GCL materials were provided by CETCO. This support is gratefully acknowledged. The writers thank Alexander Stern for assistance with some of the experimental work, and Jim Olsta of CETCO for support of this research.
References
ASTM. (2009). “Standard test method for determining average bonding peel strength between the top and bottom layers of needle-punched geosynthetic clay liners.” D6496, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2010a). “Standard test method for determining tensile properties of nonreinforced polyethylene and nonreinforced flexible polypropylene geomembranes.” D6693, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2010b). “Standard test method for measuring core thickness of textured geomembrane.” D5994, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2013a). “Standard test method for determining the internal and interface shear resistance of geosynthetic clay liner by the direct shear method.” D6243, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2013b). “Standard test method for index puncture resistance of geomembranes and related products.” D4833, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2013c). “Standard test method for tear resistance (graves tear) of plastic film and sheeting.” D1004, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2013d). “Standard test methods for density and specific gravity (relative density) of plastics by displacement.” D792, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2014). “Standard test method for linear dimensional changes of nonrigid thermoplastic sheeting or film at elevated temperature.” D1204, West Conshohocken, PA.
Bacas, B. M., Konietzky, H., Berini, J. C., and Sagaseta, C. (2011). “A new constitutive model for textured geomembrane/geotextile interfaces.” Geotext. Geomembr., 29(2), 137–148.
Byrne, R. J. (1994). “Design issues with strain-softening interfaces in landfill liners.” Proc., Waste Tech ‘94, Charleston, SC, 1–26.
Chen, Y.-M., Lin, W.-A., and Zhan, T. L. T. (2010). “Investigation of mechanisms of bentonite extrusion from GCL and related effects on the shear strength of GCL/GM interfaces.” Geotext. Geomembr., 28(1), 63–71.
Chiu, P., and Fox, P. J. (2004). “Internal and interface shear strengths of unreinforced and needle-punched geosynthetic clay liners.” Geosynthetics Int., 11(3), 176–199.
Daniel, D. E., Koerner, R. M., Bonaparte, R., Landreth, R. E., Carson, D. A., and Scranton, H. B. (1998). “Slope stability of geosynthetic clay liner test plots.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 628–637.
Eid, H. T. (2011). “Shear strength of geosynthetic composite systems for design of landfill liner and cover slopes.” Geotext. Geomembr., 29(3), 335–344.
Fox, P. J., and Kim, R. H. (2008). “Effect of progressive failure on measured shear strength of geomembrane/GCL interface.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 459–469.
Fox, P. J., Nye, C. J., Morrison, T. C., Hunter, J. G., and Olsta, J. T. (2006). “Large dynamic direct shear machine for geosynthetic clay liners.” Geotech. Test. J., 29(5), 392–400.
Fox, P. J., and Ross, J. D. (2011). “Relationship between NP GCL internal and HDPE GMX/NP GCL interface shear strengths.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 743–753.
Fox, P. J., Rowland, M. G., and Scheithe, J. R. (1998). “Internal shear strength of three geosynthetic clay liners.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 933–944.
Fox, P. J., and Stark, T. D. (2004). “State-of-the-art report: GCL shear strength and its measurement.” Geosynthetics Int., 11(3), 141–175.
Fox, P. J., Sura, J. M., and Nye, C. J. (2015). “Dynamic shear strength of a needle-punched GCL for monotonic loading.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 04015025.
Gilbert, R. B., Fernandez, F., and Horsfield, D. W. (1996). “Shear strength of reinforced geosynthetic clay liner.” J. Geotech. Eng., 259–266.
Hebeler, G. L., Frost, J. D., and Myers, A. T. (2005). “Quantifying hook and loop interaction in textured geomembrane—Geotextile systems.” Geotext. Geomembr., 23(1), 77–105.
Kim, J., Riemer, M., and Bray, J. D. (2005). “Dynamic properties of geosynthetic interfaces.” Geotech. Test. J., 28(3), 1–9.
Lai, J., Daniel, D. E., and Wright, S. G. (1998). “Effects of cyclic loading on internal shear strength of unreinforced geosynthetic clay liner.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 45–52.
Lo Grasso, S. A., Massimino, M. R., and Maugeri, M. (2002). “Dynamic analysis of geosynthetic interfaces by shaking table tests.” 7th Int. Conf. on Geosynthetics, Vol. 4, A.A. Balkema, Lisse, 1335–1338.
McCartney, J. S., Zornberg, J. G., and Swan, R. H., Jr. (2002). “Internal and interface shear strength of geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs).”, Dept. of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 450.
McCartney, J. S., Zornberg, J. G., and Swan, R. H., Jr. (2009). “Analysis of a large database of GCL-geomembrane interface shear strength results.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 209–223.
Nye, C. J., and Fox, P. J. (2007). “Dynamic shear behavior of a needle-punched geosynthetic clay liner.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 973–983.
Park, I. J., Seo, M. W., Park, J. B., Kwon, S. Y., and Lee, J. S. (2004). “Estimation of the dynamic properties for geosynthetic interfaces.” Paper No. 3210, 13th World Conf. on Earthquake Engineering, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Ridruejo, A., Gonzalez, C., and LLorca, J. (2011). “Micromechanisms of deformation and fracture of polypropylene nonwoven fabrics.” Int. J. Solids Struct., 48(1), 153–162.
Ross, J. D. (2009). “Static and dynamic shear strength of a geomembrane/geosynthetic clay liner interface.” M.S. thesis, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH.
Ross, J. D., Fox, P. J., and Olsta, J. T. (2010). “Dynamic shear testing of a geomembrane/geosynthetic clay liner interface.” 9th Int. Conf. on Geosynthetics, IGS, Guaruja, Brazil.
Stark, T. D., and Eid, H. T. (1996). “Shear behavior of reinforced geosynthetic clay liners.” Geosynthetics Int., 3(6), 771–786.
Stark, T. D., Williamson, T. A., and Eid, H. T. (1996). “HDPE geomembrane/geotextile interface shear strength.” J. Geotech. Eng., 197–203.
Thielmann, S. S., Fox, P. J., and Athanassopoulos, C. (2013). “Interface shear testing of GCL liner systems for very high normal stress conditions.”, ASCE, Reston, VA, 63–71.
Triplett, E. J., and Fox, P. J. (2001). “Shear strength of HDPE geomembrane/geosynthetic clay liner interfaces.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 543–552.
Vukelic, A., Szavits-Nossan, A., and Kvasnicka, P. (2008). “The influence of bentonite extrusion on shear strength of GCL/geomembrane interface.” Geotext. Geomembr., 26(1), 82–90.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 7 • July 2015
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 10, 2013
Accepted: Jan 9, 2015
Published online: Feb 26, 2015
Published in print: Jul 1, 2015
Discussion open until: Jul 26, 2015
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.