Experimental Investigation of Volume Change and Hydraulic Conductivity on Geosynthetic Clay Liner

Abstract

AbstractThe objective of this paper is to evaluate the hydraulic conductivity of a commercially-available geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) by Flexible-wall permeameter. The GCLs are produced by the same factory, but the content of bentonite is different. And hydraulic conductivity (HC) tests are performed on GCL specimens with different HC results (i.e., 10−9 cm/s and 10−6 cm/s). After 18 days, specimens were complete saturated under backpressure 20 kPa. The results of these tests indicate that there is a decrease in hydraulic conductivity of the GCL may be expected due to the consolidation of GCL. Measured hydraulic conductivities of GCL specimens with high HC permeated with distilled water under 20 kPa stress conditions that there is a slightly decrease and the HC keep in one order of magnitude, whereas measured hydraulic conductivities of low HC GCL specimens tested under similar conditions the HC keep in one order of magnitude. The test results show that similar hydraulic conductivity values are obtained for GCL specimens after complete saturated. In addition, the flow rate decreases with the time of test. The research findings may be of interest to researchers and engineers who design liners for landfills and other liquid containment facilities.KeywordsLandfillsGeosynthetic clay linerHydraulic conductivityVolume changeConsolidation