Determination and Comparisons of the Pore Structure of Nonwoven Geotextiles
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Published:1996
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Microstructural properties of 14 nonwoven geotextiles obtained from 4 manufacturers were measured using mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and image analysis. Different testing techniques were attempted and evaluated for the two methods. The controlled volume MIP option was found to suit geotextiles more than the pressure table option. For image analysis a one dimensional model was used to measure the pore size distribution from enlarged photographic prints of thin sections. The results from the two methods indicated similar pore size distribution for geotextiles from the same manufacturer with thickness being the major difference. However, significant differences in porosity and specific surface area between different geotextile manufacturers were obtained. The O95values obtained from image analysis and MIP were found to be much higher than the apparent opening size (AOS) and the filtration opening size (FOS) for the same geotextile.