Abstract
Geotextiles are playing an increasingly important role in civil and environment engineering applications. The performance characteristics of woven and nonwoven geotextiles and tensile test methods are reviewed. To better simulate the in-soil tensile behavior of nonwoven geotextiles, it is desirable to test their tensile properties when they are under a lateral confining pressure, and this often requires complex loading fixtures. In this study, a simple test device and a special test method are developed for testing the tensile properties of geotextiles under confining pressure. The confining device consists of two airtight aluminum chambers covered with flexible rubber membranes between which the specimen is placed, pressurized, and tested. By using specially prepared “composite” specimens, the test device can be used as an attachment to any ordinary tensile test setup. Tests are conducted on two types of nonwoven geotextiles, on an Instron tester with the confining pressure device installed. The tensile behavior of the geotextiles with and without confining pressure is evaluated and the results are reported.