Protecting Geomembrane Liners
| dc.contributor.advisor | Fleming, Ian R | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Elwood, David E | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Bugg, Jim D | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Wegner, Leon D | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Milne, Douglas O | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Hawkes, Chris D | |
| dc.creator | Marcotte, Bryce Adam | |
| dc.creator.orcid | 0000-0001-5150-8283 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2021-09-27T19:50:30Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2021-09-27T19:50:30Z | |
| dc.date.created | 2021-11 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021-09-27 | |
| dc.date.submitted | November 2021 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2021-09-27T19:50:30Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Geomembranes can be expected to function as barriers in landfill barrier applications for a long lifespan provided that they are adequately protected. Puncture and tensile strains from aggregate above the liner posses significant risk to the function of the liner. A new procedure and test device was developed to analyse puncture and tensile strains in geomembrane liners that are caused by common aggregate materials such as tire derived aggregate (TDA) or gravel under simulated landfill loads. Through a series of tests conducted with varying protection layers and clay liners below, it was discovered that geomembrane protection is a function of both the protection layer above, as well as the deformable clay layer below. Designing the protection layer needs to account for differences in clay materials as and compacted water contents. The risk associated with tire derived aggregate is the wires that are common in the aggregate. These protruding wires do pose a risk of puncturing the protection layer and the liner. This risk can be minimised by ensuring that thicker geomembranes and protection layers are used in combination with rigorous quality control to ensure that large TDA particles with minimum protruding wires are used. When comparing the strains from TDA and gravel, the current best approximations developed by Tognon et al. (2000) fail to accurately report peak strains (both magnitude and location). A new direct measurement method was developed to "correct" the current approximation methods. A correction factor was approximated which was found to both better represents the strains (magnitude and location) when compared to the direct measurement method developed by Tognon et al. (2000). Since the buildup of porewater pressure in clay soils during loading affects the deformation, the deformation of geomembranes above clay soils is also a function of loading rate. A series of tests were conducted to simulate slow, sequenced, landfill loading. The shape, distribution of strains, and magnitude of strains were significantly different from the rapidly loaded tests conducted previously. However, once the correction factor was applied, the differences in peak strains between loading rates was minimal. Taking the collected data from the research, design charts to determine required protection were produced based on the loading rate, clay soil index properties, water content, and protection layer mass per unit area. Separate design charts were made for both TDA and gravel. At 300 kPa or less applied load, TDA and gravel both require very thick protection layers - but for different reasons puncture vs strains respectively). At 500 kPa applied loads, no protection layers were found to limit strains to current appropriate levels for gravel. At 500 kPa, TDA would require very heavy protection layers to limit strains, provided that punctures could also be prevented. | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10388/13615 | |
| dc.subject | geomembrane | |
| dc.subject | puncture | |
| dc.subject | strain | |
| dc.subject | protection | |
| dc.subject | geosynthetics | |
| dc.subject | geotextiles | |
| dc.subject | tire derived aggregate | |
| dc.subject | landfill | |
| dc.subject | gravel | |
| dc.subject | drainage | |
| dc.title | Protecting Geomembrane Liners | |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| dc.type.material | text | |
| thesis.degree.department | Civil and Geological Engineering | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Civil Engineering | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Saskatchewan | |
| thesis.degree.level | Doctoral | |
| thesis.degree.name | Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) |