Sand- and Clay-Photocured-Geomembrane Interface Shear Characteristics Using Direct Shear Test

It is well known that geomembranes frequently and easily fail at the seams, which has been a ubiquitous problem in various applications. To avoid the failure of geomembrane at the seams, photocuring was carried out with 1 similar to 5% photoinitiator and 2% carbon black powder. This geomembrane can be sprayed and cured on the soil surface. The obtained geomembrane was then used as a barrier, separator, or reinforcement. In this study, the direct shear tests were carried out with the aim to investigate the interfacial characteristics of photocured geomembrane-clay/sand. The results show that a 2% photoinitiator has a significant effect on the impermeable layer for the photocured geomembrane-clay interface. As for the photocured geomembrane-sand interface, it is reasonable to choose a geomembrane made from a 4% photoinitiator at the boundary of the drainage layer and the impermeable layer in the landfill. In the cover system, it is reasonable to choose a 5% photoinitiator geomembrane. Moreover, as for the interface between the photocurable geomembrane and clay/sand, the friction coefficient increases initially and decreases afterward with the increase of normal stress. Furthermore, the friction angle of the interface between photocurable geomembrane and sand is larger than that of the photocurable geomembrane-clay interface. In other words, the interface between photocurable geomembrane and sand has better shear and tensile crack resistance.

Automated summary

By using different percentages of photoinitiator and carbon black powder, different properties of photocurable geomembranes can be obtained to prevent failures at the seams, suitable for various engineering applications. The study results show that different interfaces of photocured geomembrane with clay/sand exhibit varying friction characteristics, with the sand interface having a higher friction angle than the clay interface, indicating better shear and tensile crack resistance.