Resistance of geotextiles against mechanical and chemical degradation

Abstract

The geotextiles can suffer short and long-term resistance changes due to the action of many damaging agents. This work studies the resistance of two polypropylene geotextiles with different structures (a woven and a non-woven) against mechanical and chemical degradation. The geotextiles were ex-posed to several degradation tests: installation damage (in laboratory and in field), abrasion, creep rupture, immersion in chemical substances (water and solutions of sulphuric acid and calcium hydroxide), thermo-oxidation and artificial weathering. The damages suffered by the geotextiles (during the degradation tests) were evaluated by tensile tests (except for the creep rupture tests).