Abstract
The behaviour of materials used for developing engineering structures should be properly foreseen during the design phase. Regarding geosynthetics, which are construction materials used in a wide range of engineering structures, the installation on site and the action of many degradation agents during service life may promote changes in their properties, endangering the structures in which they are applied. The evaluation of the damage suffered by geosynthetics, like installation damage or abrasion, is often carried out through laboratory tests. This work studied the behaviour of five geosynthetics (three geotextiles and two geogrids) after being individually and successively exposed to two degradation tests: mechanical damage under repeated loading and abrasion. The short-term mechanical and hydraulic behaviours of the geosynthetics were analysed by performing tensile tests and water permeability normal to the plane tests. Reduction factors were determined based on the changes occurred in the tensile strength of the geosynthetics. Findings showed that mechanical damage under repeated loading and abrasion tended to affect the mechanical and hydraulic properties of the geosynthetics and that the reduction factors calculated according to the traditional method may not be able to represent accurately the damage suffered by the materials when exposed successively to the degradation mechanisms.
Highlights
The design of an engineering structure includes the use of safety factors to properly safeguard the occurrence of permanent and variable actions
Geosynthetics can be used in a wide range of applications such as embankments, roads and railways infrastructures, retaining walls, erosion control or coastal protection, in which they may be exposed to the action of many degradation agents
The results showed that the action of the degradation mechanisms tended to affect the mechanical and hydraulic behaviours of the geosynthetics and that the traditional method was not able to represent accurately the combined effect of mechanical damage under repeated loading and abrasion
Summary
The design of an engineering structure includes the use of safety factors to properly safeguard the occurrence of permanent and variable actions. There is a method (described in EN ISO 13427 [14]) for evaluating the resistance of geosynthetics against this degradation mechanism This method can induce relevant damage on those materials, such as cuts in components, splitting or disintegration, significantly affecting their properties [15,16]. For reinforcement applications, ISO/TR 20432 [18] considers the use of four partial reduction factors for affecting the tensile strength of geosynthetics, accounting for the effects of installation damage, creep, weathering, and chemical and biological agents. The results showed that the action of the degradation mechanisms tended to affect the mechanical and hydraulic behaviours of the geosynthetics and that the traditional method (for the determination of reduction factors) was not able to represent accurately the combined effect of mechanical damage under repeated loading and abrasion. The predicted reduction factors tended to be lower in comparison with those found in the successive exposures to both degradation mechanisms
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