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Effect of Soil Fines on Geosynthetic Interface Shear Strength

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Jiale Lin at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Jiale Lin
Timothy D. Stark
Timothy D. Stark
Timothy D. Stark
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Hyunil Jung at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Hyunil Jung
Abedalqader Idries at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Abedalqader Idries
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Abstract and Figures

The interface between a geosynthetic drainage composite (GDC) and textured geomembrane (GMX) is assumed to be free of soil particles and other debris to facilitate drainage, maintain interface shear resistance, and minimize clogging. However, soil particles usually can pass through the GDC and accumulate on the upper surface of the primary-GMX during landfill construction and operation. This paper presents a case study involving a geosynthetic bottom liner system with a leachate collection and removal system above the primary-GMX comprised of granular drainage media and an underlying GDC. After exhumation, the primary-GDC/GMX interface contained significant soil particles while the secondary-GDC/GMX interface did not. Torsional ring shear tests were conducted to study the impact of the soil particles on the primary- and secondary-GDC/GMX interfaces to understand why failure occurred along the top of the secondary-GMX and not the primary-GMX even though similar geosynthetics were used for both interfaces.
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CASE STUDY
International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering (2024) 10:94
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40891-024-00602-x
signicant environmental damage and economic costs dur-
ing reconstruction. For instance, the Kettleman Hills failure
was primarily attributed to interface failure resulting from
insucient interface shear strength [1–4]. In the case of the
Cincinnati Landll, excavation at the toe of the slope was
identied as the primary cause of instability [5, 6]. Lique-
faction of the bottom waste led to reduced waste strength,
which subsequently contributed to slope instability at the
Bulbul Drive Landll during operation [7–9]. The failures
at Dona Juana and Shenzhen Landlls demonstrated how
increased leachate levels and surcharge can precipitate slope
instability [10, 11]. Furthermore, the Xerolakka Landll
failure exemplied how overloading and inadequate waste
compaction can result in diminished shear strength of the
waste material, ultimately leading to slope failure [12, 13].
Therefore, accurate estimation of the shear strength through
the geosynthetic interface testing is a key to prevent the fail-
ure of landll slopes. This paper focuses on the eect of soil
nes on geosynthetic interface strength, which governed the
stability of the landll slope in 2013.
Introduction
Landlling is the most common method of regulated dis-
posal of municipal solid waste (MSW). However, a number
of landll failures have occurred since the 1988 Kettleman
Hills slope failure in a hazardous waste landll including
Cincinnati, Ohio; Bulbul Drive, South Africa; Dona Juana,
Columbia; Shenzhen, China; Xerolakka, Greece; and Shi-
raz, Iran [1–13]. Overestimation of the shear strength
caused slope instability in these cases and resulted in
Timothy D. Stark
tstark@illinois.edu
Hyunil Jung
hyunilj2@illinois.edu
Jiale Lin
jialelin1994@outlook.com
Abedalqader Idries
aidries@langan.com
1 University of Macau, Macau, China
2 Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign, 205 N. Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
3 Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc, 9606
N. Mopac Expressway Suite 110, Austin, TX 78759, USA
Abstract
The interface between a geosynthetic drainage composite (GDC) and textured geomembrane (GMX) is assumed to be free
of soil particles and other debris to facilitate drainage, maintain interface shear resistance, and minimize clogging. How-
ever, soil particles usually can pass through the GDC and accumulate on the upper surface of the primary-GMX during
landll construction and operation. This paper presents a case study involving a geosynthetic bottom liner system with a
leachate collection and removal system above the primary-GMX comprised of granular drainage media and an underlying
GDC. After exhumation, the primary-GDC/GMX interface contained signicant soil particles while the secondary-GDC/
GMX interface did not. Torsional ring shear tests were conducted to study the impact of the soil particles on the primary-
and secondary-GDC/GMX interfaces to understand why failure occurred along the top of the secondary-GMX and not
the primary-GMX even though similar geosynthetics were used for both interfaces.
Keywords Textured geomembrane · Drainage composite · Peak strength · Large displacement strength · Residual
strength · Ring shear testing · Soil
Received: 25 December 2023 / Accepted: 27 October 2024 / Published online: 7 November 2024
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024
Eect of Soil Fines on Geosynthetic Interface Shear Strength
JialeLin1· Timothy D.Stark2· HyunilJung2· AbedalqaderIdries3
1 3
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