Development of Test Protocols for Characterization of Soil/Geosynthetic Interaction and Intrinsic...

To provide improved testing procedures for determining geosynthetic material properties and geosynthetic/soil interaction.

Geosynthetic applications in transportation facilities require the definition of geosynthetic material properties and properties related to the interaction of the geosynthetic with the surrounding soil. Previous work on geosynthetic reinforcement of flexible pavements has shown the importance of these properties on reinforcement benefit. Currently, the tests performed to provide data on these properties require special equipment and are expensive to conduct. Test methods and protocols need to be developed which simplify these tests. The new tests need to be suitable for use by practicing engineers, yet need to still capture the mechanical properties that govern design. Results from this research will include improved testing procedures for determining geosynthetic material properties and geosynthetic/soil interaction. Improved equipment may prove beneficial in terms of reducing the number of separate tests that need to be run as well as focusing current experiments to capture only the necessary parameters governing design.