Geocomposite Materials
Geocomposites provide enhanced performance compared to traditional construction materials in applications including separation, reinforcement, filtration, and drainage.
This geocomposite consisted of a geotextile-geonet composite and was used as a leachate drainage layer on the base of the landfill cell. It was subjected to high tensile loads during installation. The results were excellent.
What is a Geocomposite?
A geocomposite is an engineered construction material that incorporates multiple different components to provide enhanced performance in geotechnical engineering functions. These functions include filtration, drainage, separation, reinforcement, and erosion control. Geocomposites help improve construction outcomes and are gaining popularity in civil engineering projects.
These geosynthetic products are generally made up of polypropylene, polyester, or a combination thereof. They can be either woven or non-woven. Woven and non-woven geotextiles are used for functions such as separation, filtration, and soil stabilization. They can also be used to prevent the mixing of layers in roadway construction and for lining landfills or ponds.
Nonwoven geotextiles are commonly used in paving systems to enhance separation and permeability. They also have erosion control properties, helping to reduce cracking and rutting of the pavement surface. Geocomposites with geogrids are used to increase the load-bearing capacity of foundations and slopes, and they can be used for the reinforcement of sedimentary formations like riverbanks and coastal structures. Finally, geocomposites with geonets are used in gas venting and collection systems to facilitate the collection of gases, such as methane or radon, from landfills or brownfield sites.
Separation
The use of geocomposites is a way to provide multiple functions simultaneously, reducing the need for separate materials and simplifying construction processes. This multifunctionality is a great advantage for geotechnical engineering projects where a variety of requirements must be met.
Geocomposites are used to prevent the mixing Geocomposite materia of different soil layers, control soil erosion, and offer protection against punctures and abrasions. They can also be used in containment applications like landfill liners and pond liners.
These geocomposites are usually prefabricated with a layer of sodium bentonite clay sandwiched between two woven or needle-punched nonwovens or a woven and a needle-punched nonwoven. When hydrated, the bentonite layer swells and forms an impermeable barrier to liquids or gases.
Geocomposite nets are more complex materials that combine geotextiles with components like drainage cores, geogrids, or geomembranes. This combination provides a range of additional functions, such as reinforcement and fluid barrier, in addition to separation, filtration, and drainage. These geocomposites are often used in landfill liners and caps to intercept and transport leachate and water, or as barriers for mining and waste facilities.
Reinforcement
Geocomposites consist of a thoughtful combination of different geosynthetic materials like geotextiles, geogrids, geonets and/or geomembranes into one unit. These products serve a variety of engineering applications that require separation, filtration, reinforcement, drainage and containment.
The synergistic properties of each individual component enhance the overall performance and function of the composite material. For example, a geotextile’s low modulus and strength and high elongation at failure can be significantly improved by laminating it with a geogrid or woven fabric scrim.
Drainage
The function of a geocomposite drainage system is to reduce hydrostatic pressure on soil surfaces and slopes by conveying water to designated exit points and thereby obliterating water pooling. Such drainage systems are a modern and cost-efficient alternative to the traditional aggregate drainage system.
Filtration
Drainage
Geocomposite drainage materials combine a geotextile and a geonet or geomembrane into one product. They serve as efficient, easy-to-install replacements for granular layers and are used in applications such as gravel roadways, drainage mats or geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) for landfills or pond liners.
Integrated into a woven or non-woven geotextile, the drainage core of a geocomposite offers high flow paths for gas and liquids, protecting the underlying soil from damage and contamination. They also reduce physical, biological, and chemical supplier geomembrane clogging and provide an effective solution for enhancing the drainage of Civil Engineering applications.
In addition to providing improved separation, reinforcement, filtration, and drainage, geocomposite materials enhance technical properties of the underlying soil or geotechnical structure and minimize application costs. Ocean Global manufactures a variety of geocomposites using specialized manufacturing techniques and quality materials. Contact us today to discuss your project needs and the right solution. We offer geotextile-geonets, geotextile-geogrids, geomembranes-geonets, and geosynthetic clay liner-geomembrane for your geotechnical projects.
Drainage
The drainage of a Geocomposite is achieved by the combination of a woven or non-woven filtering geotextile with a perforated drain layer in the form of a grid or mat. These products can be installed for a variety of purposes from separating and draining soils in a roof garden to collecting leachate and gases in landfill applications and for sub-slab depressurization in buildings.
In addition, a new application for this type of product, referred to as earthquake drains, involves the use of a perforated pipe covered with a durable filtering geotextile for liquefaction mitigation in loose sandy soils. The premise is that when dynamic loading generates excess pore pressures in these soils quick drainage will dissipate those pressures and prevent them from reaching levels that initiate liquefaction failure.
The water flow within the HDPE core of drainage geocomposites is typically measured by index tests at a range of pressures and hydraulic gradients and should be reported in terms of the in-plane drainage volume (in litres per second per metre width). However, it is important to note that these short-term test results do not necessarily provide an accurate reference value for design life and that appropriate reduction aspects will be determined through project-specific tests.
