Cylindrical Expansion Test for Tensile Properties of Geotextiles

This technical note describes a new apparatus and testing procedure to perform rapid quality control and assessment of the design parameters of geosynthetic materials. The cylindrical expansion test (CET) is based on the principles of the extension of a geosynthetic specimen wrapped around the surface of an expanding thin-wall cylinder. The parametric study conducted on two nonwoven polyolefin geotextiles showed that the diameter of the cell and the geometry of the specimen have a statistically insignificant effect on the tension-strain behavior of the tested materials. Design parameters such as initial and secant tensile moduli were determined, and it appeared that the values obtained for these parameters are comparable within the margin of experimental errors with those derived from the results of the wide width strip test.