Measurement of Nonwoven Geotextile Deformation with Strain Gauges

스트레인 게이지를 이용한 부직포의 변형거동 계측

Because of the increasing need to use clayey soil as the backfill in reinforced soil structures and embankment material, nonwoven geotextiles with the drain capability have been receiving much attention. However, there are few studies of the deformation behavior of nonwoven geotextiles at geosynthetics reinforced soil structures in the field because the nonwoven geotextile, which has low tensile stiffness and higher deformability than geogrids and woven geotextiles, is difficult to measure its deformation by strain gauges and to prevent the water from infiltrating. This study proposes a new, more convenient method to measure the deformation behaviour of nonwoven geotextile by using a strain gauge; and examines the availability of the method by conducting laboratory tests and by applying it on two geosynthetics reinforced soil (GRS) walls in the field. A wide-width tensile test conducted under confining pressure of 7kPa showed that the local deformation of nonwoven geotextile measured with strain gauges has a similar pattern to the total deformation measured with LVDT. In the field GRS walls, nonwoven geotextile showed a larger deformation range than the woven geotextile and geogrid; however, the deformation patterns of these three reinforcement materials were similar. The function of strain gauges attached to nonwoven geotextile in the walls works normally for 16 months. Therefore, the method proposed in this study for measuring nonwoven geotextile deformation by using a strain gauge proved useful.