Constitutive Modelling of Short-Term Tensile Response of Geotextile Subjected to Mechanical and Abrasion Damages

This paper discusses simple constitutive models to represent the tensile response of a geotextile (GTX) and the influence of two endurance durability factors on that response: mechanical and abrasion damage, acting independently and sequentially. The damage was induced in laboratory under standard conditions. Two types of models were used: polynomial and hyperbolic. The polynomial models (order 4 and 6) approximated the short-term tensile experimental data very well (and better than the hyperbolic model), but its model parameters have no physical meaning. The hyperbolic model parameters did not always have the physical meaning reported in the literature. Correction factors were introduced successfully, to achieve that physical meaning. These correction factors were not materials constants and were affected by the damage induced, and by the type of aggregate used in the mechanical damage tests. Equations to estimate the model parameters of the damaged samples were proposed using the model parameters for the undamaged sample and its properties (tensile strength and corresponding correction factor), and the reduction factors allowing for damage for the initial stiffness (J_i) and tensile strength (T_max).