Strength test?

Questions and answers from the GMA Techline

Something that has always puzzled me while performing the CQA for liners is the strength test for a weld using the extrusion gun. I always thought that if the weld does not pass for elongation, that has more to do with the sheet than how well the weld holds or was performed. Maybe I am missing something.

Can you please provide your thoughts?

Ron | USA

Ron,

You are sniffing around the right situation. Many feel that the geomembrane is not acting in a peel mode so why challenge it by a strength/elongation test? They have a point—with the possible exception of waves and wrinkles.

But there shouldn’t be any waves and wrinkles! Conversely, the entire testing enterprise is built up around five shears (obviously important and relevant) and five peels. This protocol dates back to Henry Haxo in the early 1980s.

Bob Koerner | GMA Techline