TYPES OF GEOSYNTHETICS

Geotextiles
Geogrids
Geonets
Geomembranes
Pre-fabricated vertical drains (PVD)Pre fabricated vertical drains (PVD)
Geosynthetic Clay Liner (GCL)
Geocells (3-d confinement)
Geocomposites & Geo-others

Geotextiles and geostrips :

These include woven and non-woven

geotextiles used for drainage, stabilization and reinforcement function
Geostrips are in the form of cut fabric or long strips of geotextiles.
Geostrips are generally produced from polypropylene and high density
polyethylene.
They can be connected with anchors at the ends. The anchors may be in the
form of loops, rings or spirals, which may help in confining soil elements

Geogrids
Geogrids made by Extrusion, weaving or welding process
Geogrids are also produced by special process which align molecular chains
of polymers, there by obtaining the material of high tensile strength as
compared to the extruded polymeric mesh.
In geogrid, the reinforcing function is achieved by positive inter-locking of
the fill material into the apertures or opening while in a geotextile, the
reinforcing function is achieved by the surface friction between the fabric
and soil fill.
Extrusion products (oriented geogrids) are made of polyethylene or
polypropylene.

 Woven geogrids are made of polyester coated with PVC latex or bitumen
with PVC, latex or bitumen.
Welded geogrids by attaching strips of fibres at junctions.
Polymers and Manufacture of Geosynthetics.

Extruded & Stretched Geogrids

4 to 6 mm thick polymer sheets are taken and holes are punched at regular
patternholes are punched at regular pattern
Sheet is drawn uniaxially or biaxially under controlled temperature and strain rate
without controlled temperature and strain rate without rupture
Draw/stretch ratio is different for different geogrids
Molecular orientation is achieved for higher strength, stiffness and better creep
resistance

GEONETS
Geonets are also planar products
Consists of ribs in two directions
Apertures are of diamond shape
Ribs in the two directions are at different planes
Thickness of geonets is larger than that of geogrids
Geonets are also referred to as geospacers

GEONET APPLICATIONS

Erosion control ribs act as small check dams to slow down the surface
runoff decreases erosion potentialrunoff decreases erosion potential of
water
Drainage layers water flows along the geonet because of large thickness

GEOMEMBRANES
Thick impervious plastic sheet
Thickness 5 mm to 3 mm approximately Thickness .5 mm to 3 mm
approximately
To contain liquids and gases
APPLICATIONS OF GEOMEMBRANES
Landfill lining
Canal lining
Tunnel lining

Geosynthetic Clay Liners

Consist of a core of bentonite clay sandwiched between layers of thick nonwoven geotextile
Applied below and above geomembrane layers in landfills
Self-repair mechanism
Bentonite expands when fluid leaks through punctured geomembrane closes the
gap
Advantages
Easy to transport
Any fill material can be used
All round confinement to soil
Semi-rigid layer (very stiff support)
Spreads loads over a large area
Excellent support even under cyclic loads

APPLICATIONS
Erosion control
Steep slopes and retaining walls
Sub-base support
Road bases
Railway tracks
Container yards

Geocells or Geoweb members :

These include multicoloured HDPE cells of varying heights, used for
stabilization applications.
They are made from prefabricated polymetric systems.
These systems are made from thick HDPE strips, 50 to 200 mm wide,
stitched or welded together at 200 to 50 mm intervals.
The hexagonal or rhomboidal cells can be made of geosynthetic honeycomb
design.
The geocell or geoweb mattresses are used for footing foundations, roads and canal
linings

Geocomposites
Combination of two different types of geosynthetics to take advantage of each

Geo-others
Geodrains
Lightweight fills
Geopipes
Geotextile bags & soil encapsulation
Gabions
Geosynthetic Encased Stone Columns

 Many others left to the imagination of engineers

Polymers in geosynthetics
All geosynthetic products except for the natural products are made of polymers.
The word polymer is derived from Greek language poly means many and
meros means parts.
Polymers consist of many parts joined through links.
Each part is called a monomer single unit.
Monomer is a molecular compound used to produce polymers.
Molecular weight of a polymer is the degree of polymerization (no. of
monomeric units packed into a polymer) multiplied by the molecular weight of the
repeating unit.
Increased molecular weight results in,
Higher tensile strength,
Higher impact strength,
Higher stress crack resistance,
Better heat resistance, etc.
The manner of cross-linking and the number of repeating units define a polymer.
There are nearly 50,000 varieties of commercially available polymers.
Bonds within polymer molecules are due to vanderWaals forces, permanent
dipoles, or hydrogen bonds.
Bonds between molecular chains are due to cross-linking by covalent bonds.
Based on cross-linking, polymers are divided into two categories
thermoplastic
Thermoset

 Thermoplastic polymer is one which can be repeatedly heated to its softening

point and repeatedly heated to its softening point and made into desired shapes and
cooled to preserve the shape.
In Thermoset polymers the above process cannot be repeated. Material will just
simply degrade upon reheating.
Examples of thermoplastic polyethylene(PE), polypropylene (PP) and polyester
(PET)
Examples of thermoset materials butyl Examples of thermoset materials
butyl,nytrile and EPDM.
All geosynthetics are thermoplastics.

Major Ingredients of polymers:

The resin from which the name derives
Carbon black or colorants
Short-term processing stabilizers
Additives (Long-term antioxidants)

Polyethylene (PE):
By polymerization of Ethylene molecules CH
Radical, anionic and cationic polymerization,
Most common thermoplastic polymer.
Density Depends on Polymerization Techniques Used
HDPE: Density > 0.940 g/ccy g
MDPE: Density 0.9400.926 g/cc
LDPE: Density 0.9250.919 g/cc

Polypropylene: By polymerization of propylene gas.

High-temperature cracking of petroleum hydrocarbons).
PP and PE (known collectively as Polyolefins, or simply Olefins) and propane
(CH3)
PP has a lower density
The service temperature of PP is higher
PP is harder and more rigid
PP is more resistant to environmental stress cracking
PP is more susceptible to oxidation and chemical attack than PE

Geotextiles
Geotextiles are permeable or porous fabrics, made from synthetic materials,
that are used with geotechnical material (such as soil or rock) as an integral
part of a man made product, structure or system.
As per ASTM, geotextiles are permeable sheets of synthetic fibres like
polyester, polypropylene, polyethelene, polamide (nylon), viscose etc.
while geomemmbranes are basically impermeable sheets or films made from
a polymer and which may be reinforced with a textile, or may be made
impermeable by spraying asphalt or resin directly on the ground or on to a
geotextile.
Geotextiles are available in thickness varying from 10 to 300 mils ( 1 mil =
11100 inch = 0.254 mm) and in widths upto 10 m and in rolls length up to
600 m.
The permeabilities of geotextiles sheets are comparable in range from coarse
gravel to fine sand.
Geotextiles can be made of a vide variety of natural (such as jute paper or
wood shavings etc. and synthetic materials (mentioned above) and can be
woven, made up to mono-filament, multi-filament or tapes, or non-woven
i.e. mechanically bonded (needle punched), heat bonded or resin bonded,
being made of staple fibre or continuous filament. They may also be knitted
some times.

Advantages of geotextiles :
As stated earlier, geotextiles can be made either from the natural fibres or
from synthetic materials.
The bio-degradable nature of natural fibres have restricted their use to some
specific applications whereas synthetic materials have made their way for
wide applications.
Another advantage of using these fibres for geotextiles is related to their
ability to be engineered chemically, physically and mechanically to suit
particular geotechnical engineering applications.
The use of geotextiles is preferred over other construction materials because of the
following reasons :

1. Ease and speed of construction

2. Ability to withstand differential settlement.
3. Suitability for phased construction at restricted sites.
4. Ability to provide viable solution to exceptionally difficult. otherwise.
intractable construction problems.
FUNCTIONS OF GEOTEXTILES
The functions of geotextiles can be broadly divided into two heads :
(A) Hydraulic functions. and (B) Mechanic functions. as detailed below.
(A) Hydraulic functiolls :
I. Fluid transmission or drainage
2. Filtration
(B) Mechanic functions :
1. Separation.
2. Protection
3. Reinforcement.

Different Types of Geotextiles

Woven
Plain weave common weave as found in textiles one up and one Plain
weave common weave as found in textiles one up and one down weave
pattern
Basket weave two or more warp and/or filing yarns are used
Twill weave diagonal weave pattern with yarn intersections one pick
higher
Nonwoven fibres are bonded

 Melt or head bonded fibres are spread on a roller and joined bymelting at
cross-over points stiff geotextiles bonding is achieved by calendering
process
Resin bonded fibres are bonded by spraying acrylic resin
Needle punched fibres are entangled with each other to form the
continuous fabric sheet large thickness and large mass textiles

Geo-Grids
Introduction:
A geogrid is geosynthetic material used to reinforce soils and similar
materials. Geogrids are commonly used to reinforce retaining walls, as well
as subcases or subsoil below roads or structures. Soils pull apart under
tension. Compared to soil, geogrids are strong in tension. This fact allows
them to transfer forces to a larger area of soil than would otherwise be the
case.
Geogrids are commonly made polymer materials, such as polyester,
polyethylene or polyproylene. They may be wovern or knitted from yarns,
heat-welded from strips of material or produced by punching a regular
pattern of holes in sheets of material, then stretched into a grid.
Geogrid products are designed for reinforcement and, characteristically, are
integrally connected to elements separated by in-plane apertures
Importance of Geo-grid:
Geogrids improve the structural integrity of soils in roadways, walls and
slopes by reinforcing and confining fill materials and distributing load
forces. Geogrids are the answer for designers, developers and contractors
facing the challenges posed by sloping ground and soft subgrades.
Geogrids help soils stand at virtually any desired angle in grade separation
applications. In retaining wall and slope applications, geogrids can be
combined with a wide variety of facing elements to produce the desired
aesthetics for any project.
Geogrids provide support for the construction of access roads, highways,
berms, dikes and structure applications that previously required the use of
expensive over-excavating or piling methods on weak subgrades. Geogrids
are also used in base reinforcement applications to reduce aggregate
thickness requirements or extend roadway performance life.

Types of Geo-grid:
There are 3 types of geo-grid as under:
1.Biaxial Geogrids
Biaxial Geogrids improve the structural integrity of roadways by confining and
distributing load forces. Geogrids provide support for the construction of access
roads, highways and applications on weak subgrades that previously required
expensive over-excavating and replacing. Geogrids are also used for road
construction on stable subgrades to reduce aggregate thickness requirements and/or
extend roadway performance life.
Base Reinforcement
When building permanent roads on a relatively firm foundation, Biaxial Geogrids
provide enhanced performance or reduction of the road structure thickness.
Geogrids change the way the base course performs under load. With their open
grid structure and high tensile modulus, they interact with and confine base course
materials, much like a rack confines balls in the game of pool.
Subgrade Improvement
When weak subgrade conditions are encountered Biaxial Geogrids are used to
provide a temporary road surface or a stable foundation for a permanent road.
Biaxial Geogrids work much like a snowshoe to distribute loads over a wider area.
Applications

Roads
MSE

2.Uniaxial Geogrids
In grade separation applications, Uniaxial Geogrids are used to help soils stand at
virtually any desired angle; from 0 to 90 degrees. Geogrids can be combined with a
wide variety of facing elements in retaining wall and slope applications to produce
the desired structural or aesthetic conditions for any project.

Geogrid Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls

Geogrid reinforced soil retaining walls offer economical and aesthetically pleasing
alternatives to conventional retaining wall systems. The geogrid reinforced fill
zone behind the wall facing acts as a uniform mass or block, providing stability to
the wall and structure. Geogrids work with a wide variety of fill materials and
facing elements including segmental concrete blocks, concrete panels, geogrid
wraps, timbers or boulders.
Geogrid Reinforced Slopes
Geogrid reinforced slopes provide a natural and economical alternative to
conventional concrete retaining walls. Geogrid reinforced slopes create naturally
finished slope structures that are easy to construct and enhance property values
because of their natural beauty. Geogrid reinforced slopes can be built at any angle
to provide the most economical use of available space while avoiding the increased
cost of vertical structures.
The construction of embankments, bridge approach fills, dikes and causeways over
soft soils and wetlands traditionally involves expensive, time consuming
construction methods. Geogrid reinforcement of these structures minimizes the
project footprint, fill requirements and differential settlement, saving time and
money.
Applications

MSE

3.TriAxGeogrids
TriAx is a revolutionary new geogrid product from Tensar. The triangular structure
of TriAxgeogrid, coupled with the increased rib thickness and junction efficiency,
greatly improves aggregate interlock and confinement leading to optimal
structural performance of the mechanically stabilized layer.
Research indicates that TriAxgeogrid can reduce aggregate base/sub-base
requirements by 25% to 50%.

TriAxgeogrid delivers performance in three dimensions:

Multi-directional Load Distribution

Triangular Aperture Geometry
Junction Integrity and Efficiency
Superior Performance for Paved and Unpaved Roads
Less Stress on Subgrades
1
Enhanced Snowshoe Effect

Geo Grid Applications and Functions:

Applications:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Retaining Walls
Steepened Slopes
Embankment Over Soft Soils
Veneer Stability in Landfills
Void Bridging
Pavement Reinforcement

Functions:
1. Geogrid stabilize soil mass.
2. Creates a composite soil mass of increased strength Geogrid is to soil what
reinforcing steel is to concrete
3. Much higher loads can be carried by the soil structure