ISSN: 0149-6115
Page Count: 8

Transmissivity of a Nonwoven Polypropylene Geotextile Under Suction

Stormont, JC
Associate professor,University of New Mexico,NM,

Ray, C
Technical support engineer,Leap Software, Inc.,FL,

Matthew Evans, T
Graduate research assistant,School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology,GA,

(Received 19 February 2000; accepted 18 October 2000)

Abstract

A permeameter has been developed for measuring in-plane transmissivity of geotextiles under a nearly constant value of suction along its length. The permeameter is capable of imposing gradients in excess of 10% and normal pressure up to 240 kPa, and permits the monitoring of the suctions within the geotextile during testing. To demonstrate the capability of the permeameter, a series of transmissivity measurements were made on a nonwoven polypropylene geotextile subject to different suction heads, normal pressures, and gradients. Transmissivities were up to two orders of magnitude less than the saturated value depending the on the magnitude of the suction head and whether the geotextile was being wetted or dried (hysteresis). Transmissivity values were independent of the gradient for these measurements. Increasing the applied normal pressure decreased the transmissivity at all values of suction head.

Keywords:
transmissivity, geotextiles, permeameter, unsaturated flow, suction

Paper ID: GTJ11336J
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ11336J
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