Resistance of geotextiles against mechanical and chemical degradation

The geotextiles can suffer short and long-term resistance changes due to the action of many damaging agents. This work studies the resistance of two polypropylene geotextiles with different structures (a woven and a non-woven) against mechanical and chemical degradation. The geotextiles were ex- posed to several degradation tests: installation damage (in laboratory and in field), abrasion, creep rupture, immersion in chemical substances (water and solutions of sulphuric acid and calcium hydroxide), thermo-oxidation and artificial weathering. The damages suffered by the geotextiles (during the degradation tests) were evaluated by tensile tests (except for the creep rupture tests).The authors would like to thank the financial support of “FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia” (project PTDC/ECM/099087/2008) and “COMPETE” (project FCOMP 01-0124-FEDER-009724). J.R. Carneiro would also like to thank “FCT” for his research grant (SFRH/BPD/88730/2012).