Influence of soil confinement on the creep behavior of geotextiles

This work addresses the influence of soil confinement on the creep behavior of geotextiles by presenting the results of a full scale field test. Two samples of nonwoven polypropylene geotextile were inserted at different depths in a 3 m high compacted sand fill. The samples were loaded with a constant tensile load during a 1000 h period. To maintain a constant load during the test, a system of weights, pulleys and load cells was used. The sand fill and the samples were instrumented with several types of transducers in order to measure strains, displacements, applied forces, soil stresses and temperature. Direct shear and inclined plane tests were conducted to measure the mechanical properties of the interfaces. An interpretive model is proposed to analyze the field results. The confined creep behavior in the field is compared with results obtained by other authors and with in-isolation creep results obtained from laboratory tests.