Long-term shear strength of geosynthetic clay liners

Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) often have a sandwich-like multilayer structure, e.g. bentonite encased between two geotextile layers connected by fibers or yarns, either by needle-punching or stitch-bonding. Therefore, the internal shear strength of the GCL depends on the strength of reinforcing fiber bundles or yarns and their anchoring strength in the cover and carrier geotextiles. When used on long and steep slopes and covered with thick soil layers, the GCL is permanently exposed to a combined action of compressive and shear stress. Such load conditions are characteristic for landfill covers and the slope stability of the overall cover system in the long run strongly depends on the long-term internal shear strength of the GCL. A new test method was developed to study this long-term shear behavior. The focus was not only on creep, as it is normally done, but on aging effects. The shear test devices allow the measurement of creep curves and times-to-failure at elevated temperatures in different media (tap water and de-ionized water). In this publication, the main findings of the experiments on needle-punched GCLs with and without thermal treatment are summarized. Tap water as a test medium was essential to ensure sodium to calcium ion exchange in the bentonite layer. Under this condition extremely long test durations without failure were achieved. Sliding failure occurred when de-ionized water was used. Two failure modes were observed: brittle failure of the GCLs with thermal treatment and slow disentanglement of fiber bundles for untreated GCLs. Short-term shear strength (e.g. peel strength) is unrelated to the actual long-term shear strength, i.e. to the times-to-failure achieved in long-term shear strength test. Hence, short-term shear strength alone will not provide reliable dimensioning data for product design and choice of resins. Therefore, the often suggested approach, namely, restriction to short-term tests only and application of factors of safety, is challenged by these results.