Numerical simulation of geomembrane wrinkle formation

Three outdoor experiments are reported where a wrinkle was allowed to develop and grow in a narrow strip of 2-mm-thick HDPE geomembrane when subjected to solar heating. The increase in length of the strip was used to obtain an effective coefficient of thermal expansion for the particular configuration tested. That effective coefficient of thermal expansion was then used as input into a finite element model, along with an assumed temperature dependent Young's modulus. The finite element model was able to replicate the formation of a geomembrane wrinkle when subject to solar heating.