A Non-conventional Durability Test for Simulating Creep of Geosynthetics Under Accelerated Degradation

The evaluation of the durability of geosynthetics for application in real structures is an important field of investigation. Within this field, the interaction between degradation agents that geosynthetics can be subject to, in their different applications, is an increasingly studied issue, because it can have direct implications in the design of the materials. Thus, this article explores a non-conventional test for geosynthetics, to simulate creep under accelerated conditions using a saturation and drying procedure simultaneous to the creep process. In this way, the material is closer to the exogenous field conditions as in, for example, riverside projects or even in coastal protection. For this, a total of 48 tests of conventional creep and under accelerated degradation conditions were carried out in 4 different geotextiles. From these tests, models were proposed and presented coefficients of determination greater than 0.84. Additional results indicate an increased strain rate ranging between 5 and 16 times in creep test from the moment that degradation simultaneous with creep is induced. Reduction factors greater than 3 indicated a very aggressive degradation process. In general, the study showed that ensuring the design life of geosynthetics calls for a simulation of degradation conditions that demand more from these materials. By enabling a more precise analysis of field conditions the creep test under accelerated conditions presents an excellent tool for project design. The significance of this study for geosynthetics design is in providing general knowledge of creep under accelerated conditions using equations and models to determine important geosynthetic parameters.