Time-Dependent Behavior of Geosynthetic Reinforcements

Participants: Brett Byler, Justin Knudsen, Carina Costa

Description: Research involves temperature-accelerated testing of geosynthetics to characterize their creep and stress-relaxation behavior, define the creep-failure curve and estimate the residual strength. An approximate 8-hour test, using the Stepped Isothermal Method (SIM), can provide data in excess of 100 years, circumventing many of the impracticalities of conventional creep testing. SIM data correlates well with conventional creep data. Better understanding of long-term behavior leads to more realistic design procedures, and ultimately cost savings.

References:

Zornberg, J.G., and Kavazanjian, E. (2002). “Prediction of the Performance of a Geogrid-Reinforced Slope Founded on Solid Waste, Closure.” Soils and Foundations, Vol. 42, No. 5, in press.

Knudsen, J. and Zornberg, J.G. (2002) Characterization of the Long-Term Behavior of Geosynthetics using Time-Temperature Superposition Methods. Geotechnical Research Report, Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder , July 2002, 130 p.

Knudsen, J.W. (2002). Characterization of the Long-Term Behavior of Geosynthetics using Time-Temperature Superposition Methods. M.S. thesis, Department of Civil Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, June 2002, 130 p.

Zornberg, J.G., and Kavazanjian, E. (2001). “Prediction of the Performance of a Geogrid-Reinforced Slope Founded on Solid Waste.” Soils and Foundations, Japanese Geotechnical Society, Vol. 41, No. 6, pp. 1-16.

Zornberg, J.G. (2001). “Differential Settlements of a Geogrid-Reinforced Slope.” Proc. Third International Workshop on Applications of Computational Mechanics in Geotechnical Engineering, M.M. Fernandes, L.R. Sousa, R.F. Azevedo, and E.A. Vargas (Editors), A.A. Balkema, pp. 213-217.

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