Influence of mass per unit area on the hydration of GCLs over silty sand

© The authors and IGS: All rights reserved, 2019.This study investigates and reports the hydration performance of geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) in terms of mass per unit area (MPUA). The hydration duration was applied for 7 and 30 days. After hydration, the GCL water contents increased significantly. However, water contents decreased as the MPUA increased. At any MPUA, the higher water contents were obtained for the GCLs hydrated for 30 days than the GCLs hydrated for 7 days. In contrast, higher MPUA was needed for the GCLs with 30 days of hydration to achieve the same water content as with the 7 days of hydration. This conclusion is further supported by the final GCL heights and void ratios. The higher MPUA means more bentonite particles inside of GCLs, resulting higher GCL heights and lower void ratios when compared to lower MPUA