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Related titles
High Performance Textiles and Their Applications (ISBN: 978-1-84569-180-6)
Fibrous and Composite Materials for Civil Engineering Applications (ISBN: 978-1-84569-558-3)
Geosynthetics in Civil Engineering (ISBN: 978-1-85573-607-8)
Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles:
Number 175
Geotextiles
From Design to Applications
Edited by
R.M. Koerner
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List of contributors
S.R. Allen TRI/Environmental Inc., Austin, TX, United States
P.E. Ashley Mac Millan Geocomp Corporation, Acton, MA, United States T. Bauters Consultant, Sunnyvale, CA, United States
D. Bérubé Texel, Saint-Elzéar, QC, Canada D. Cazzuffi CESI SpA, Milano, Italy J.C. Chai Saga University, Saga, Japan
B.R. Christopher Christopher Consultants, Roswell, Georgia, United States L. David Suits North American Geosynthetics Society, Albany, NY, United States A.N. Desai The Bombay Textile Research Association, Mumbai, India
O. Detert Huesker Synthetic GmbH, Gescher, Germany
N. Dixon Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, United Kingdom
A. Filshill INOVA Geosynthetics, Huntingdon Valley, PA, United States G. Fowmes Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, United Kingdom
M. Frost Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, United Kingdom
B. Garner Agru America, Inc., Georgetown, SC, United States H. Hangen Huesker Synthetic GmbH, Gescher, Germany
M. Heibaum BAW, Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute, Karlsruhe, Germany
C.W. Hsieh National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan
Y.G. Hsuan Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States W. Huang Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
N. Ivy Agru America, Inc., Georgetown, SC, United States H.-Y. Jeon Inha University, Incheon, South Korea
Ravi Kant The Bombay Textile Research Association, Mumbai, India G.R. Koerner Geosynthetic Institute, Folsom, PA, United States R.M. Koerner Geosynthetic Institute, Folsom, PA, United States; Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
A.A. Lavasan Huesker Synthetic GmbH, Gescher, Germany C.R. Lawson TenCate Geosynthetics, Malaysia
M.C. Mandaglio Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Italy
N. Moraci Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Italy D. Narejo Narejo Inc., Conroe, TX, United States
J. Raja Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, United Kingdom P. Rimoldi Milan, Officine Maccaferri SpA, Italy
P. Saunier Afitex Texel Geosynthetics, Vancouver, BC, Canada L.R. Schimmel Huesker, Inc., Charlotte, NC, United States
C.J. Sprague TRI/Environmental, Inc., Greenville, SC, United States
J.E. Sprague TRI’s Denver Downs Research Facility, Anderson, SC, United States G.T. Torosian GeoTesting Express, Inc., Acton, MA, United States
H. Zanzinger SKZe Testing GmbH, W€urzburg, Germany
xvi List of contributors
Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles
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Y. Li, L. Yao and K. W. Yeung
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32 Chemicalfinishing of textiles W. D. Schindler and P. J. Hauser 33 Clothing appearance andfit
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36 Syntheticfibres: Nylon, polyester, acrylic, polyolefin Edited by J. E. McIntyre
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38 Analytical electrochemistry in textiles P. Westbroek, G. Priniotakis and P. Kiekens 39 Bast and other plantfibres
R. R. Franck
40 Chemical testing of textiles Edited by Q. Fan
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xviii Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles
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52 Biomechanical engineering of textiles and clothing Edited by Y. Li and D. X.-Q. Dai
53 Digital printing of textiles Edited by H. Ujiie
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56 Thermal and moisture transport infibrous materials Edited by N. Pan and P. Gibson
57 Geosynthetics in civil engineering Edited by R. W. Sarsby
58 Handbook of nonwovens Edited by S. Russell
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Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles xix
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74 3Dfibrous assemblies: Properties, applications and modelling of three-dimensional textile structures
J. Hu
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77 Biologically inspired textiles Edited by A. Abbott and M. Ellison 78 Friction in textile materials
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79 Textile advances in the automotive industry Edited by R. Shishoo
80 Structure and mechanics of textilefibre assemblies Edited by P. Schwartz
81 Engineering textiles: Integrating the design and manufacture of textile products Edited by Y. E. El-Mogahzy
82 Polyolefin fibres: Industrial and medical applications Edited by S. C. O. Ugbolue
83 Smart clothes and wearable technology Edited by J. McCann and D. Bryson 84 Identification of textile fibres
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85 Advanced textiles for wound care Edited by S. Rajendran
86 Fatigue failure of textilefibres Edited by M. Miraftab
87 Advances in carpet technology Edited by K. Goswami
88 Handbook of textilefibre structure Volume 1 and Volume 2 Edited by S. J. Eichhorn, J. W. S. Hearle, M. Jaffe and T. Kikutani 89 Advances in knitting technology
Edited by K.-F. Au
90 Smart textile coatings and laminates Edited by W. C. Smith
91 Handbook of tensile properties of textile and technicalfibres Edited by A. R. Bunsell
xx Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles
92 Interior textiles: Design and developments Edited by T. Rowe
93 Textiles for cold weather apparel Edited by J. T. Williams
94 Modelling and predicting textile behaviour Edited by X. Chen
95 Textiles, polymers and composites for buildings Edited by G. Pohl
96 Engineering apparel fabrics and garments J. Fan and L. Hunter
97 Surface modification of textiles Edited by Q. Wei
98 Sustainable textiles Edited by R. S. Blackburn
99 Advances in yarn spinning technology Edited by C. A. Lawrence
100 Handbook of medical textiles Edited by V. T. Bartels 101 Technical textile yarns
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102 Applications of nonwovens in technical textiles Edited by R. A. Chapman
103 Colour measurement: Principles, advances and industrial applications Edited by M. L. Gulrajani
104 Fibrous and composite materials for civil engineering applications Edited by R. Fangueiro
105 New product development in textiles: Innovation and production Edited by L. Horne
106 Improving comfort in clothing Edited by G. Song
107 Advances in textile biotechnology
Edited by V. A. Nierstrasz and A. Cavaco-Paulo 108 Textiles for hygiene and infection control
Edited by B. McCarthy 109 Nanofunctional textiles
Edited by Y. Li
110 Joining textiles: Principles and applications Edited by I. Jones and G. Stylios
111 Soft computing in textile engineering Edited by A. Majumdar
112 Textile design
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115 Woven textile structure B. K. Behera and P. K. Hari
Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles xxi
116 Handbook of textile and industrial dyeing Volume 1: Principles, processes and types of dyes
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117 Handbook of textile and industrial dyeing Volume 2: Applications of dyes Edited by M. Clark
118 Handbook of natural fibres Volume 1: Types, properties and factors affecting breeding and cultivation
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119 Handbook of naturalfibres Volume 2: Processing and applications Edited by R. Kozłowski
120 Functional textiles for improved performance, protection and health Edited by N. Pan and G. Sun
121 Computer technology for textiles and apparel Edited by J. Hu
122 Advances in military textiles and personal equipment Edited by E. Sparks
123 Specialist yarn and fabric structures Edited by R. H. Gong
124 Handbook of sustainable textile production M. I. Tobler-Rohr
125 Woven textiles: Principles, developments and applications Edited by K. Gandhi
126 Textiles and fashion: Materials design and technology Edited by R. Sinclair
127 Industrial cutting of textile materials I. Vil¸umsone-Nemes
128 Colour design: Theories and applications Edited by J. Best
129 False twist textured yarns C. Atkinson
130 Modelling, simulation and control of the dyeing process R. Shamey and X. Zhao
131 Process control in textile manufacturing
Edited by A. Majumdar, A. Das, R. Alagirusamy and V. K. Kothari 132 Understanding and improving the durability of textiles
Edited by P. A. Annis 133 Smart textiles for protection
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134 Functional nanofibers and applications Edited by Q. Wei
135 The global textile and clothing industry: Technological advances and future challenges
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136 Simulation in textile technology: Theory and applications Edited by D. Veit
137 Pattern cutting for clothing using CAD: How to use Lectra Modaris pattern cutting software
M. Stott
xxii Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles
138 Advances in the dyeing andfinishing of technical textiles M. L. Gulrajani
139 Multidisciplinary know-how for smart textiles developers Edited by T. Kirstein
140 Handbook offire resistant textiles Edited by F. Selcen Kilinc
141 Handbook of footwear design and manufacture Edited by A. Luximon
142 Textile-led design for the active ageing population Edited by J. McCann and D. Bryson
143 Optimizing decision making in the apparel supply chain using artificial intelligence (AI): From production to retail
Edited by W. K. Wong, Z. X. Guo and S. Y. S. Leung 144 Mechanisms offlat weaving technology
V. V. Choogin, P. Bandara and E. V. Chepelyuk
145 Innovative jacquard textile design using digital technologies F. Ng and J. Zhou
146 Advances in shape memory polymers J. Hu
147 Design of clothing manufacturing processes: A systematic approach to planning, scheduling and control
J. Gersak
148 Anthropometry, apparel sizing and design D. Gupta and N. Zakaria
149 Silk: Processing, properties and applications Edited by K. Murugesh Babu
150 Advances infilament yarn spinning of textiles and polymers Edited by D. Zhang
151 Designing apparel for consumers: The impact of body shape and size Edited by M.-E. Faust and S. Carrier
152 Fashion supply chain management using radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies
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153 High performance textiles and their applications Edited by C. A. Lawrence
154 Protective clothing: Managing thermal stress Edited by F. Wang and C. Gao
155 Composite nonwoven materials Edited by D. Das and B. Pourdeyhimi
156 Functionalfinishes for textiles: Improving comfort, performance and protection Edited by R. Paul
157 Assessing the environmental impact of textiles and the clothing supply chain S. S. Muthu
158 Braiding technology for textiles Y. Kyosev
159 Principles of colour appearance and measurement
Volume 1: Object appearance, colour perception and instrumental measurement A. K. R. Choudhury
Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles xxiii
160 Principles of colour appearance and measurement
Volume 2: Visual measurement of colour, colour comparison and management A. K. R. Choudhury
161 Ink jet textile printing C. Cie
162 Textiles for sportswear Edited by R. Shishoo
163 Advances in silk science and technology Edited by A. Basu
164 Denim: Manufacture,finishing and applications Edited by R. Paul
165 Fabric structures in architecture Edited by J. Ignasi de Llorens
166 Electronic textiles: Smart fabrics and wearable technology Edited by T. Dias
167 Advances in 3D textiles Edited by X. Chen
168 Garment manufacturing technology Edited by R. Nayak and R. Padhye
169 Handbook of technical textiles Second edition Volume 1 Edited by A. R. Horrocks and S. C. Anand
170 Handbook of technical textiles Second edition Volume 2 Edited by A. R. Horrocks and S. C. Anand
171 Sustainable apparel Edited by R. S. Blackburn
172 Handbook of life cycle assessment (LCA) of textiles and clothing Edited by S. S. Muthu
173 Advances in smart medical textiles: Treatments and health monitoring Edited by L. van Langenhove
174 Medical textile materials Y. Qin
175 Geotextiles: From design to applications Edited by R. M. Koerner
xxiv Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles
Early background and history
of geotextiles 1
R.M. Koerner
Geosynthetic Institute, Folsom, PA, United States; Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
1.1 Introduction
The oldest published reference to a fabric material being used in the context of a current geotextile application is that ofBeckham and Mills (1935). They used a woven cotton fabric to separate and stabilize the soil subgrade of an unpaved road in South Carolina. They reported that 8 years later the fabric had degraded from soil microor- ganisms to the point that it could hardly be identified. Additional trials were made by the Bureau of Public Roads in several US states at about the same time with natural fabrics, but the stage was set for the use of nonbiodegradable polymer fabrics, which is the focus of this chapter. Called by various names over the subsequent decades, eg, filter fabrics, synthetic fabrics, road rugs, construction cloth, bauvlies/filtermatte (German for “construction fleece”/“filtration mat”), etc., the name of “geotextiles”
(coined by J.-P. Giroud in 1985) is currently used worldwide.
The information to follow about geotextile types and their myriad applications will be taken from published papers or manufacturers’ brochures. In this regard, it is recog- nized that many trials were undertaken by large chemical companies, specialty manu- facturers, federal and state regulatory agencies, etc., but unless they were published in reasonably accessible literature these undoubtedly noble efforts will not be included.
This is not meant to diminish the respective contributions from people and/or com- panies that did not publish; it is merely to provide a degree of control regarding acces- sibility, peer review, and appreciation for the individual authors for making their contributions available. Also, the focus is on geotextile applications rather than the the- ory and laboratory testing that was being done at the time. This was primarily done to convince regulators, owners, and design engineers, who generally require actualfield applications, to do likewise.
At the outset it should also be mentioned that others have presented overview papers on early geotextile history, including Rankilor (1981), Jones (1982), Giroud (1986), John (1987), Pilarczyk (2000), Holtz (2004), andHeerten (2015). Their infor- mation will be used and cited accordingly.
However, this review will be somewhat different from the others in that geotextile developments in Europe (initially with nonwoven fabrics) will be presentedfirst, with developments in America (initially with woven fabrics) following. The interchange between Europe and America up until 1977 will then be described along with devel- opments in several other countries. Almost immediately after the first international
Geotextiles.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100221-6.00001-2 Copyright© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
conference on construction fabrics was held in Paris, France, in 1977, these materials became“mainstreamed,” and their use continues to the present. The graph ofFig. 1.1 on early published papers indicates this trend. As mentioned, this review chapter will end at that time; the many chapters to follow will bring the technology to its current status.
1.2 Geotextiles in Europe
Heerten (2015), in his historical review about geosynthetics in general and geotextiles in particular, suggests almost parallel efforts in The Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, and Denmark. The competition was indeed “harsh”
and focused on different fabric types and even different polymers for the same Paris Conference
(66 papers) To 85 in 1977 50
40
30
20
10
0
Number of papers published
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980
Year of publication
Figure 1.1 Papers published with fabrics as the main topic area up to 1977.
Koerner, R.M., Welsh, J.P., 1980. Construction and Geotechnical Engineering Synthetic Fabrics, J. Wiley and Sons, NY, p. 267.
4 Geotextiles
applications. In this regard, it should be recognized that from the beginning, large chemical companies, eg, Enka/AKZO in Holland, Rhone-Poulenc in France, ICI in the United Kingdom, Chemie Linz in Austria, and DuPont in both the United Kingdom and Switzerland, became active throughout Europe with many innovative applications, sometimes even with the requisite testing and research. As will be seen, the major chemical companies were the original promoters of their products in the early days of geotextiles.
In The Netherlands,John (1987)reported that geotextiles werefirst used in 1956.
This stems directly from the need tofind innovative construction solutions for use on their massive Delta Works Scheme, which commenced immediately after the devas- tatingflood in 1953 (see Wikipedia for details of this horrific event). The use of woven geotextiles in coastal protection works became established during the early 1960s. In these protection works, woven geotextiles were used either in place of soil filters beneath wave protection systems or as a partial replacement for willow fascines in scour protection mattresses. Nonwoven, heat-bonded fabrics were used much later combined with high-strength wovens in foundation mats for bridge piers and dams.
The Dutch were also thefirst to conceive the idea of using two layers of geotextiles, stitch-bonded together at intervals, as a flexible formwork for cast-in-place concrete revetments. A British patent granted to H. J. F. Hillen of Holland in 1968 for this concept had a priority date of October 1964 (Koerner and Welsh, 1980).
High-strength woven geotextiles, mainly promoted by Enka/AKZO and TenCate/Nic- olon, were used on very soft saturated soils for what eventually became known as basal reinforcement (Hoogendoorn, 1977). Even further, the original concept of cardboard prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) was changed to a thick needle-punched nonwoven geotextile and later to a polymer drainage core surrounded by a geotextilefilter/sepa- rator (Risseeuw and Elzen, 1977).
The Netherlands Geotextile Organization was one of thefirst professional organi- zations to bring together individuals in manufacturing, design, testing, and govern- mental agencies and was the forerunner of many more to come (Ogink, 1975; Van Santvoort, 1995).
In France, Giroud (1986) reported that Rhone-Poulenc began manufacturing needle-punched nonwoven fabrics from continuous filaments in the 1960s. Nonwo- vens in unpaved roads for separation and stabilization began in 1968. Shortly after- ward, fabric walls and dams (Kern, 1977) and embankments (Puig et al., 1977) were being constructed. Geotextilefilters for both an internal drain and upstream blan- ket were used in the Valcros dam (Giroud et al., 1977). This particular application has been revisited regularly and indicated excellent service provided over the years (see Loudiere (1977)for similar earth dam applications). Also, an interesting application of placing continuous polyesterfilaments along with sand to construct walls and slopes was developed and implemented (LaFlaive, 1984).
In the United Kingdom, the chemical firm of ICI was significant for introducing heat-bonded nonwoven fabrics to the civil engineering community beginning in the 1970s. This direct interaction with the nascent geotextile community was evidenced with the eventual publication of the 31-page manual entitled“Designing With Terram,”
which focused on its nonwoven spun-bonded fabric. It was a breakthrough document at
Early background and history of geotextiles 5
the time of publication. Also notable is that Prof. McGown at the University of Strath- clyde was one of the earliest academics involved with geotextile testing andfield imple- mentation, eg, fabrics in an unpaved road over a peak bog in Scotland (McGown and Ozelton, 1973). ICI sponsored research at universities; for example, in 1968 they cosponsored drainage research at the University of Connecticut with Healy and Long, who developed a plastic core surrounded by a nonwoven spun-bonded textile, calling it a“fin drain” (Hunt, 1982). The interesting aspect of using nonwovens as capil- lary breaks (even in arid regions for saltwater rise) was advanced in the 1970s by Clough and French (1982). Hillen received a British patent in 1968 for a shore protec- tion system using sand-filled textile bags and containers. Fabric-reinforced retaining walls have been used in the United Kingdom since the early 1970s to the point where published guidance on construction became available (Jones, 1982).
In Germany, early work by Prof. F.-F. Zitscher at the Technical University of Han- over was pivotal from both an academic and practical perspective. He guided the use of fabrics and sand bags in coastal engineering in the 1950s. He was also thefirst to pub- lish a book with a meaningful focus on geotextiles in hydraulic work and lent the emerging area status in central Europe (Zitscher, 1971). According to Heerten (2015), coastal engineers used sand-filled tubes for erosion protection, dike construc- tion, and dike closure along the North Sea coastline in the late 1960s. The fabrics were wovens from different resin types. In the 1970s, large German chemical com- panies (such as Hoechst, BASF, and Bayer) were entering the emerging nonwoven geotextile market directly. Also, textile manufacturing companies such as Huesker and NAUE began fabric production and assembled design teams leading to the rein- forcement of soft soils using high-strength woven fabrics and revetment design using very heavy nonwoven fabrics. Geotextile installations were greatly aided in Germany by governmental agencies for waterways, dam construction, highways, and railroads applications. The German Railroad (Deutsche Bahn) developed thefirst railroad test section using nonwoven needle-punched synthetic fabrics in 1971. Based onfield expe- rience, the Federal Waterways and Research Institute was the driving force in the early 1970s to consider geotextiles with special tests for robustness during installation and in service, eg, stone dumping and abrasion tests. In 1974, the“Bavarian Dam Construc- tion Office” started the construction of several rock fill dams up to 85 m high using a soil-cement improved core with an attached thick (1000-g/m2) nonwoven needle-punched syntheticfilter and drainage layer at the core. A monitoring program at the “Frauenau Damm” has shown excellent results during decades of service to date (List, 1987;Heerten, 1984). The involvement of governmental agencies provided instant credibility for private owners and developers to accept geotextile solutions for a growing list of applications. Even further, a revetment design incorporating thick needle-punched nonwoven fabrics was introduced to North America and Australia.
In Austria, the chemicalfirm of Chemie Linz began providing design, testing, and installation services using their needle-punched nonwoven polypropylene fabrics in the early 1970s. Many of the large chemical companies in Europe began to promote fabrics for civil engineering applications at the same time. Professor Brandl at the Technical University of Vienna was involved with Austrian geotextile developments (Brandl, 1977) throughout the early days and to the present. Examples of Austrian
6 Geotextiles
experiences in 1970 by Wandschneider (1986) for fabrics used to reinforce soft subgrade soils for highways and as early as 1973 for rail bedfiltration and drainage (Wehr, 1986; Lieberenz and Piereder, 2013) are notable advancements.
In Denmark, thefirm Aldek A.S. began filling flexible tubes with sand as early as 1957. They were granted a patent in 1967 and franchised their“Longard Tube System”
in Europe and then America. Clearly, this work was an early form of large geotextile tubes for erosion control and dewatering of river and harbor sediments (Zirbel, 1975).
Also in Denmark, thefirm of Christiani and Nielsen used grout-filled bags to establish the uniform bearing capacity of cast-in-place concrete foundations on irregular rock surfaces beneath a highway tunnel (ENR, 1967). The Danish company Fibertex A.S. is one of the pioneering textile companies with geotextile activities all over Europe; it supplies polypropylene nonwovens produced with a combination of needle punching and heat bonding.
In Belgium, Gyssels (1982)described undersea mattresses of woven geotextiles, fastened to willow fascines, to receive large stones dumped from barges for North Sea breakwaters in a similar manner as in Holland.
In Sweden, the concept of modern PVDs was invented in 1971 and was brought to its current status as described in a book byHoltz et al. (1991). In addition, in 1966, Wager, of the Swedish Geotechnical Institute, was innovative in using fabrics for un- paved roads, steep soil slopes, and over pile caps to support a bridge embankment (Holtz and Massarsch, 1976, 1993).
Other countries in Europe also had individual investigators working with geotex- tiles in civil engineering applications but often lacked the impetus given by large chem- ical companies which had the resources in both personnel and materials as mentioned.
1.3 Geotextiles in America
In his1966paper, Barrett describefieldwork beginning in the late 1950s that used geo- textiles behind precast concrete seawalls, under precast concrete erosion control blocks, beneath large stone rip-rap, and in other erosion control applications. His com- pany, Carthage-Mills, a manufacturer of polypropylene tent and awning fabrics, sup- plied the very open area (from 6% to 30%) monofilament fabrics that were used. He also tried to balance permeability and upstream soil retention empirically but in a qual- itative manner. A paper byAgerschou (1961)discussed hydraulic applications along the same general lines. After many years of unsuccessful promotion, Barrett teamed with the US Army Corps of Engineers research group in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
With the lead taken byCalhoun (1972), they developed tests for opening size, gradient ratio, and a complete“filter fabric” specification designated as CW-02,215 (Calhoun, 1977). These tests and others were augmented by the consultingfirm of STS at about the same time (Holtz and Christopher, 1990).
In a totally different application, the US Forest Service began using needle-punched nonwoven geotextiles as wraparound walls in steep logging terrain in the Pacific North- west in 1974. The fabric rolls were sometimes delivered by helicopters.
Geotextile-reinforced embankments were constructed in Alaska beginning in 1975
Early background and history of geotextiles 7
(Bell et al., 1977). This work culminated in the first US Federal Highway Administration design and construction guidelines (Steward et al., 1977; Bell et al., 1975; Mohney, 1977; Steward et al., 1977; Bell and Steward, 1977). An altogether different application was developed in 1966 by Phillips Petroleum Co. using field bitumen-saturated nonwoven needle-punched fabrics to control reflective cracking in asphalt pavement overlays (Dykes, 1985).
In the early 1970s, applications with nonwovens began with the DuPont Company using carpet backing (also called“road rugs”) for unpaved road applications. The fab- ric was a nonwoven, heat-bonded, continuous filament polypropylene fabric. (See Chen et al. (1981) for an early paper describing the process and some applications).
At about the same time, Celanese Corp. began importing an ICI fabric from England.
The individualfilaments had an unusual composite fiber structure consisting of a poly- propylene core surrounded by a polyethylene sheath. The latter was heat bonded for stiffness, stability, and patent avoidance. Other large chemical companies, similar to those in Europe, become heavily involved. Exxon Chemicals Co. manufactured woven slit (split) fabrics which had excellent strength to weight characteristics and were used for both roadway stabilization and as silt fences. Crown Zellerbach Co. (a major diaper manufacturer) started marketing the first needle-punched nonwovens for use in sec- ondary roads and wraparound retaining walls. Monsanto Textiles Co. introduced a polyester spun-bonded nonwoven focusing on railroad applications. They also spon- sored academic research to North Carolina State University whereas Celanese Corp.
sponsored work at the University of Illinois. However, all of these nonwoven fabrics were introduced into the US market after similar fabrics in Europe. The US chemical companies also had technical literature in the form of brochures and manuals, which were excellent tutorials with illustratedfield applications and examples.
As with thefiltration fabrics mentioned earlier, the Corps of Engineers was again pivotal in the testing, design, and construction of high-strength woven geotextiles for use in reinforcing embankments and dikes on extremely soft subgrades. The activity was prompted by 1976 Public Law 94e587, which required the increased ca- pacity and the extended useful life of dredged materials. Shortly thereafter, work in Norfolk, Virginia at Craney Island and then Mobil Harbor in Alabama implemented high-strength geotextiles up to 250 kN/m (Fowler, 1985). This work was significant in that traditionally conservative geotechnical engineers witnessed major projects relying completely on these relatively new construction materials. Work by the Cold Regions Laboratory of the Corps of Engineers resulted in membrane-encapsulated soil layers for use in frost-sensitive soils in unpaved roads (Smith and Pazsint, 1975).
Artificial seaweed tufted into a multifilament woven fabric was developed in 1965 by Sun Oil Co. and used to encourage sand buildup in the seabed and prevent further erosion. Both Nicolon and ICI followed with similar applications in the late 1960s (Brashears and Dartnell, 1967). Silt fences, both on sloping gravel surfaces and under- water, were developed by Erosion Control Co., Burlington Industries, and the Mirafi Co. in the late 1960s (Koerner and Welsh, 1980).
Terzaghi and Lacroix (1964) used concrete-filled woven nylon flexible forms to close an irregular surface between steel sheeting and a rock abutment surface of a dam in Canada (Mission Dam, later renamed Terzaghi Dam). This application began
8 Geotextiles
numerous variations for specific applications using fabrics as flexible forms. Fabriform by Construction Techniques, Inc., consisted of two fabrics stitch bonded together at intervals for erosion control mattresses. Many variations followed, such as Hydro-Lining, VSL mats, Terrafirma, Gobimat, Terrafix, and Dura-Bags (Koerner and Welsh, 1980).Karim (1975)used similar mattresses for scour protection around bridge piers. Other similar applications are underpinning bridge piers, tunnel support (ENR, 1967), underpinning caissons, restoring pile foundations (Kupfer, 1969), and columns for mine and cavern stability (Welsh, 1975). Koerner and Welsh (1980) include 21 patents granted for similar applications between 1963 and 1976. Finally, a technique to reduce or eliminate negative skin function on pile foundations using fabric-wrapped bitumen slip layers was another concept inflexible fabric-forming sys- tems (Koerner and Mukhopadhyay, 1972).
Thefirst government-financed large research proposal was granted by the US Federal Highway Administration to Professors Bell and Hicks of Oregon State University in 1974. It was a significant undertaking which brought the emerging fabric technology to many geotechnical engineers. Other academics involved in the early years were Prof. Marks at the University of Tennessee (1975) andProf. Barenberg (1975) at the University of Illinois.
1.4 Geotextiles in other countries
Geotextile research and development leading to field installations was ongoing in many countries other than those mentioned before the Paris Conference in 1977. To name but a few,field installations in roadways, railroads, and retaining walls were be- ing made successfully in Japan (Tatsuoka et al., 1986; Fukuoka, 1986). In Canada, thick needle-punched nonwoven geotextiles have been used asfilters/separators in rail- road ballast since the early 1970s (Raymond, 1982). Since 1971, needle-punched non- wovens from continuous filaments have been produced in Brazil and South Africa.
Also in South Africa, geotextiles have been used with success as filter drains for several slime dams from gold mining operations since the early 1970s (Scheurenberg, 1982). In Australia,Lawson and Ingles (1975)reported on bitumen-sealed geotextiles to encapsulate water-sensitive and friable soils for unpaved roads.
1.5 Geotextiles become ubiquitous
By the late 1970s, chemical,fiber, and fabric manufacturers were transporting fabrics to all countries of the world (Fig. 1.2). At that time more technical papers were becoming available but one still had to be diligent in a search to ferret out specific information (recallFig. 1.1in this regard). There were no dedicated journals, specialized confer- ences (except for Paris in 1977, at which time this review ends), designfirms, testing firms, regulatory agencies focusing on geotextiles, etc. In this regard, the large chemical companies indeed “made the industry” in those formative years.Table 1.1 lists the
Early background and history of geotextiles 9
Geotextiles still little-used Influence of woven technology
Influence of non-woven technology
Pakistan India
China
Thailand
First paper 1961 much woven development in late 60s 5 years
influence
4 years influence
1966 conference in Japan
Direct American influence not strong in Asia
Late 70s UK non-woven influence into USA
9 years influence into Europe
Australian wovens begin to penetrate UK by 1978
Mid 70s non-woven melded fabric developed in UK
USSR
Late 70s Australia introduce UK non-wovens into Indonesia Use of
wovens in early and mid 70s in Singapore
Late 70s UK non-wovens penetrate Malaysia and Singapore
S. America
Mid 70s UK influence non-wovens strongly into Australia
Mid 70s development of non-wovens in Europe Late 70s strong French influence into Africa non-wovens
East Africa
Late 70s UK influence into S. Africa
By the mid 1980s it is expected that all countries will have become aware of the wide range of woven and non- woven membranes available for engineering design.
Extensive UK influence into the Middle East late 70s
Figure 1.2 Worldwide development and movement of geotextiles up to the late 1970s.
Rankilor, P.R., 1981. Membranes in Ground Engineering, Wiley and Co., London, England, p. 377.
10Geotextiles
Table 1.1
Fibers and fabrics of major chemical companies available before about 1977
Company Country Resin Type Trademark
Amoco United States PP Woven Propex,
Amopave
Bay Mills Canada FG Woven B.M. Midland
Burlington United States Nylon Woven Easy-Fencin’
Celanese United States PET Nonwoven Fortrel
Chemie Linz Austria PP Nonwoven Polyfelt
Crown Zellerbach United States PP Nonwoven Fibertex
Don and Low United Kingdom PP Woven Lotrak
DuPont United States and
United Kingdom
PP/PET Nonwoven Typar
Enka United States PET Nonwoven Stabilenka
Exxon United States PP Woven GTF
Enka/AKZO Holland PET Woven Various
Fibertex United Kingdom PP Nonwoven Fibertex
Foss United States PET Nonwoven Geonet
Hoechst United States and Germany
PET Both types Syntex
Huesker Germany Various Woven HaTe
ICI United Kingdom PET Woven Terram
Kenross-Naue Canada and United States
PP and PET Nonwoven Terrafix
Mirafi/Celanese United States PP and PET Both types Mirafi
Monsanto United States PET Nonwoven Trevira
NAUE Germany PET and PP Nonwoven Terrafix
Nicolon Holland PP and PE Woven Various
Nicolon United States PP Woven Geolon
NW fabrics United States PET Nonwoven Polytex
Phillips United States PP Both types Supac
Rhone-Poulenc France PET Nonwoven Bidim
Texel Canada PP and PET Both types Texel
UCO Holland PP and PET Both types Geotex
PET, poly(ethylene terephthalate); PP, polypropylene.
Early background and history of geotextiles 11
names of these companies, their primary location, the fabric resin and type, and product trademark by the end of the 1970s. Those of us who followed owe all of these com- panies a sincere debt with regard not only to geotextiles but indeed to all geosynthetics.
Interestingly, Rankilor predicted in his 1981 book that “by the mid 1980s it is expected that all countries will have become aware of the wide range of woven and nonwoven fabrics available for engineering design.” Indeed, this did become the case!
Acknowledgments
Sincere appreciation is expressed to Dr. Robert D. Holtz, Professor Emeritus of the University of Washington, United States, and Prof. Dr. Ing. Georg Heerten, Hon. Professor RWTH, Aachen, Germany, for their careful and constructive review of the chapter.
We also thank the many sponsoring organizations of the Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) for their ongoingfinancial support. This chapter is part of the ongoing publications activity at the institute. Current GSI member organizations and their contact members are available on the in- stitute’s Web site atwww.geosynthetic-institute.org. Board of director members are also listed accordingly.
References
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Clough, I.R., French, W.J., 1982. Laboratory andfield work relating to the use of geotextiles in arid regions. In: Proc. 2nd Intl. Conf. on Geotextiles, Las Vegas, NV, pp. 447e452.
Dykes, J., June 4e5, 1985. Paving fabrics with asphalt overlays. In: Proc. Geotechnical Fabrics Conference, IFAI, Cincinnati, USA, pp. 153e156.
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Giroud, J.-P., Gourc, J.-P., Bally, P., Delmas, P., 1977. Behavior of a nonwoven fabric in an earth dam. In: C. R. Coll. Int. Sols Textiles, Paris, France, pp. 213e218.
Gyssels, E., 1982. The exposure of the Belgian Zeebrugge harbour in the sea and the use of woven geotextiles. In: 2nd Intl. Conf. on Geotextiles, Las Vegas, NV, pp. 229e234.
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Early background and history of geotextiles 15
Geotextile resins and additives 2
Y.G. Hsuan
Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
2.1 Introduction
Geotextiles are the earliest of geosynthetic products, beginning about 1960. Before that, engineering textiles (also called engineering fabrics) were mainly made from nat- ural materials such as grass,flax, bamboo, and jute. Although natural geotextiles are still available (see chapter: Geotextile/Geosynthetic Testing Standards Development Organizations), the vast majority are polymeric. A variety of polymers can be used to manufacture syntheticfibers and fabrics, including polyamides (nylon-66, nylon-6, and nylon 46), polyacrylonitrile, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene naphthalene, polypro- pylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), to name just a few. For geotextiles, however, PP, PE, and PET are the types of polymers used almost exclusively. Of these, PP is the dominant polymer used in the geotextile market (Table 2.1).
This chapter focuses on the production of these three types of polymer resins, ie, PP, PE, and PET, starting from the raw materials fed into reactors for the required polymerization. If required, additives can be introduced in resin pelletization pro- cessing before pellets are shipped to geotextile manufacturers for processing into fibers, filaments, or yarns and eventually geotextiles.
2.2 Polypropylene and polyethylene
Because PP and PE belong to the polyolefin family, which is hydrocarbon compounds, they are discussed in the same section of this chapter. PP and PE are made from pro- pylene and ethylene monomer, respectively. Their simplified polymerization reactions
Table 2.1
Types of polymer used to manufacture geotextiles (Koerner, 2012)
Geosynthetic Types of polymer
Estimated percentage in use
Geotextiles Polypropylene 90%
Polyethylene 5%
Polyethylene terephthalate 5%
Geotextiles.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100221-6.00002-4 Copyright© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
are shown in Eqs. [2.1] and [2.2]. These two monomers are produced from either petroleum-refining operations or natural gas. Galli (1994) and Galli and Vecellio (2004)discussed how the growth of PP and PE was driven by the development of cat- alysts and polymerization technologies, as listed inTable 2.2.
H H
H H
H CH3 H CH3 n
C C C C [2.1]
H H
H H
H
H H H n
C C C C [2.2]
2.2.1 Polyethylene resins
Advances in PE polymerization technology and catalysts enable a resin producer to generate a series of PEs with different molecular weight distributions yielding a variety of performance properties. There are three major development stages: ZieglereNatta, supported metal oxides, and metallocenes (Rodriguez, 1996).
• ZieglereNatta catalysts and supported metal oxides catalysts: These two types of catalysts have multiple reactive sites differing in reactivity. PE generated from these catalysts consists of a broad molecular weight distribution and long polymer chains. Furthermore, the greater amount of comonomer branches tends to concentrate in the short polymer chains, reducing the lubricating effect during the product extrusion process.
• Metallocenes: These catalysts have a single active site, enabling them to generate polymers with a narrow molecular weight distribution. Also, the comonomer branches are uniformly distributed. With a well-controlled molecular weight and comonomer type, a PE resin with high crystallinity and high elastic properties can be created.
Depending on the type and amount of comonomer, a wide range of PE resins with different densities can be produced. The linear copolymer PE is categorized into four groups based on the density range according toASTM D883, as shown inTable 2.3.
Table 2.2
New developments in catalysts and polymerizations
Year Catalysts Year Polymerization
1955 ZieglereNatta 1977 Union Carbide LLDPE process
1968 High-yieldd-MgCl2- supported catalysts for PE
1982 Spheripol process for PP
1975 High-yieldd-MgCl2- supported catalysts for PP
1990 Metallocene technology
LLDPE, linear low-density polyethylene.
18 Geotextiles
Various commercial polymerization processes are patented by the petroleum com- panies. In the 1950s, Phillips Petroleum Company used the ZieglereNatta catalyst in a slurry technique to produce linear PE (Bobsein and Seeley, 1994). Parallel with ad- vancements in catalyst technology, new polymer processes, ie, solution and gas phase processes, were developed between 1970 and 1980. These different polymerization processes enable PE to be produced with different densities.Table 2.4compares the three key PE processes in this regard (Xie et al., 1994).
The type of PE used to make geotextilefibers is mainly high-density PE (HDPE) with different meltflow index (MI) values obtained according toASTM D1238under the con- ditions 2.16 kg and 190C. The specific MI value depends on the fiber manufacturing process. HDPE resins with an MI ranging from 2 to 6 g/10 min have been used in a melt spinning process byDrees and Spruiell (1975)andWhite et al. (1974).
Table 2.3
Polyethylene density classi fication according to ASTM D883
Category Abbreviation Density range (g/cc)
High-density polyethylene HDPE >0.941
Medium-density polyethylene MDPE 0.926e0.940
Linear low-density polyethylene LLDPE 0.919e0.925
Low-density polymer LDPE 0.910e0.925
Note: LDPE is the highly branched type of polyethylene.
Table 2.4
Various polymerization processes and polymer properties
Polymerization condition and
polymer properties Slurry Solution Gas phase
Reactor Loop or CSTR CSTR Fluidized bed or stirred bed
Pressure, (atm.) 30e35 w100 30e35
Temperature (C) 85e110 80e100 140e200
Polymerization mechanism
Coordination Coordination Coordination
Loci of polymerization Solid Solvent Solid Polymer density,
g/cm3
0.930e0.970 0.910e0.970 0.910e0.970
Polymer melt index, g/10 min
<0.01e80 0.5e105 <0.01e200
CSTR, continuously stirred tank reactor.
Geotextile resins and additives 19
2.2.2 Polypropylene resins
PP is similar to PE except for the pendant methyl (CH3) group attached to every other carbon atom along the polymer chain. The location of the methyl group with respect to the zigzag conformation of the polymer chain creates three types of PP: atactic, isotactic, and syndiotactic. In atactic PP, the methyl group is randomly distributed along the polymer chain. Isotactic PP has the methyl group positioned along one side of the polymer chain, and syndiotactic PP is a regular alternative arrangement of the methyl group, as shown inFig. 2.1. The regular structure of the isotactic type allows the PP to crystallize and be drawn to producefibers. PP resins with different MI ranges have been used for textilefibers.
Goodall (1986)categorized the progress of PP polymerization into three categories based on the percentage of isotactic PP being generated. Thefirst and second genera- tions are based on a TiCl3catalyst yielding 90e95 to 96e97 wt% of isotactic PP, respectively. The third generation, which has been applied to produce commercial PP since 1980, uses MgCl2as the supporting catalyst. Although the percent yield of isotactic PP from MgCl2 is lower than the first generation, ranging from 90 to 95 wt%, the weight percentage of polymer generated increases almost 1000-fold for a unit gram of catalyst.
There are three major commercial polymerization processes for isotactic PP production: solvent slurry, bulk slurry, and gas phase (Fiasse, 1994). The solvent slurry process was designed for thefirst generation of catalysts. Although the process is relatively complex, its flexibility can produce some of the finest and cleanest grades of PP. The bulk slurry process is similar to solvent slurry but is much simpler;
thus, it displaced the solvent slurry process for PP production. The gas phase process has simplicity similar to that of the bulk slurry process, and thus these two processes are competitive with each other. However, the gas phase process is more suitable for copolymerization with a high level of comonomers.
Isotactic PP Syndiotactic PP Atactic PP
Carbon atom Hydrogen atom
Figure 2.1 Three types of tacticity of PP.
20 Geotextiles
2.3 Polyethylene terephthalate
Polymerization of PET is different from the polyolefins described previously. It is formed by a condensation reaction between two monomers: dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and ethylene glycol (EG). The polymerization process involves a two-step pro- cess: ester interchange (Eq. [2.3]) and polymerization (Eq. [2.4]). Weak basic cata- lysts, usually metal salts, are used to accelerate polymerization and control the molecular weight and stoichiometry of the polymer. Thefirst step is carried out at tem- peratures from 150 to 200C and the methanol is continuously distilled off. The reac- tion is a solution polymerization. The temperature in the second step is increased to 260e290C, at which melt polymerization occurs (Odian, 1981).
Step 1: Ester interchange
CH3OCO COOCH3
(DMT)
+
+ 2HOCH2CH2OH (ethylene glycol)
HOCH2CH2OCO COOCH2CH2OH 2CH3OH
(bis(2-hydroxyethyl)terephthalate) (methanol)
[2.3]
Step 2: Polymerization
HOCH2CH2OCO
H CO
n
OCH2CH2OCO OCH2CH2OH + (n–1)HOCH2CH2OH COOCH2CH2OH
(bis(2-hydroxyethyl)terephthalate)
(polyethylene terephthalate, PET) (ethylene glycol)
[2.4]
There are two types of processes: batch and continuous (Pucetas, 1994). The batch process can produce 20 to 40 KN of polymer in 4 to 5 h. The ester exchange and poly- merization steps take place separately at temperatures of 240 and 290C, respectively.
This process is not commonly used and is only for special cases. For the large produc- tion of PET, the continuous process is an effective method and can generate over 800 MN/year of resin. The more commercial process is to replace DMT by tereph- thalic acid with a paste form of EG to produce bis(2-hydroxy-ethyl)terephthalate, which is then polymerized as inEq. [2.4].
Geotextile resins and additives 21