This article will cover the following topics about Geotextile Fabrics and their use so you can be sure you're selecting the right fabric for your application.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Glory Tang New Material.
A Geotextile is permeable fabrics that can filter, separate, reinforce, drain, or protect the soil. These kinds of fabrics are usually made from polyester or polypropylene and typically made in three forms; woven, needle punched, and heat bonded.
Geotextiles can endure a wide range of extremities. They are long-lasting and able to soften the fall when someone falls on them. Permeability means the surface of geotextiles has tiny pores that allow gases or liquid to pass through.
Synthetic fibers used as geotextile raw materials are typically polyamide, polyester, polyethylene, and polypropylene. The last one is the oldest synthetic fiber, having been discovered in . Many nonwoven fabrics are made of synthetic fibers using the "needlepunching" process shown below.
Illustration above of the needle-punching process used in forming non-woven geotextiles
Woven geotextiles are made by blending and weaving textiles together on a loom, creating a single an even length. The end product is not only sturdy and strong, which makes them excellent for applications such as car parks and road constructions but also incredibly well equipped to endure any ground stabilization problems.
The resulting products are moderately impermeable and don’t provide the best separations against fines. However, woven geotextile will resist any UV degradation and be a better fit for long-lasting applications.
Mostly, woven geotextiles are measured based on tensile strength as well as strain, which is the material’s resistance to breaking tension.
Woven geotextiles provide drainage by enabling water to seep through while filtering out the sediments that might block the rest of the drainage system. They also protect the construction project against erosion by functioning as a separation barricade between the materials below and above the textiles.
Though all geotextiles can accomplish all these tasks the six primary functions of a geotextile are to filter, drain, separate, reinforce, waterproof, and protect. For the road construction project, different fabrics are required for different tasks. And for you to decide which geotextile is right for your construction project, you must start with your end objective in mind.
"The six primary functions of a geotextile are to filter, drain, separate,
reinforce, waterproof, and protect."
Woven textiles can be produced from a number of materials; however, the most common one is typically weave or yarn-blend. When completed, woven geotextiles usually resemble plastic sheets, with the weaving only differentiated upon close examination. Whether you need a medium – or light-weight weave will depend entirely on the purpose of your construction project.
With woven geotextile, the impermeability is a massive asset where the top priority is strength. And having said that, it can be a disadvantage where the major priority is drainage because its tight woven tapes don't allow water to pass through to the lower layers of the fabrics.*
As time progresses, the development of woven geotextiles has resulted in more efficient materials. These new developments have led to the improvement of flow rate as well as higher interaction coefficients, thus making them more suitable for almost all kinds of civil applications by offering confinement, separation, and reinforcement. They also allow for much more improved filtration and drainage.
*Note there are now High Performance Woven Fabrics available that do allow for both high strength & drainage
Nonwoven geotextiles are manufactured by entangling fibers, both long and short, together through either needle punching or other suitable methods. In some instances, thermal treatment is used to improve further the tensile of the geotextile. Because of this manufacturing process, alongside their permeability, non-woven geotextiles are typically used in drainage applications, separation, filtration as well as protection.
Needle-punched non-woven fabrics are usually made by taking a huge number of tiny textiles and using a barbed needle to mesh the fabrics together.
Non-woven geotextiles are usually measured by their weight, for example, gsm/grams per square meter, or ounces per square yard.
The non-woven geotextile usually breaks down quicker than woven geotextiles. However, for construction projects where water pooling is the main concern, non-woven fabrics are usually the best choice as they enable better drainage.
The differences between non-woven and woven geotextiles can be hard to establish when looking at the specifications of the materials. But, woven geotextiles are generally made with higher strength, while non-woven geotextiles have much higher flow rates.
The easiest way to differentiate between the two fabrics is by checking the elongation. Generally, non-woven geotextiles have much higher elongation than their woven counterparts. A non-woven geotextile specification will include elongation as superior to 50%, while woven geotextiles list elongation as low as 5% and 25%. Sometimes this is not even listed.
Usually, when one looks for the differences between woven and non-woven fabrics, they tend to confuse the weights between the two. The weight of woven geotextile is seldom listed because these materials are usually used to offer separation and reinforcement, and thus are not weight dependent.
On the contrary, the weight of non-woven geotextile is a common differentiation, often nonwoven fabrics will be named by their ounces per square yard such as 4oz, 6oz, 8oz, 10oz, and so on. The higher the weight the more heavy duty the fabric.
Geotextiles have always been measured by their weight, so a finished fabric would be 8oz per square yard. The two other specifications – strength and puncture – would be direct to the weight of the product.
Often Nonwoven fabrics will be named by their ounces per square yard such as 4oz, 6oz, 8oz, 10oz, and so on.
The higher the weight the more heavy duty the fabric.
Geotextiles were originally referred to as filter fabrics. While many people believe geotextiles were first made by R.J Berrett in the s, the history of these materials goes further back. In the age of pharaohs, geotextiles were often used in roadways constructions to offer more stability on the roads and their edges.
Geotextiles are believed to be among the first even textile products to be used by humans in history. Many Egyptian excavation sites have revealed the use of grass mats and linen. During the early times, geotextiles were made with natural fibers or a mixture of vegetation and soil to enhance the stability of roads.
Geotextiles are everywhere in new construction. They can be found in roads, railways, harbor works, drains, breakwaters, and on hillside erosion control applications. The most common applications of geotextiles include Separation, Stabilization, Reinforcement, Filtration, Moisture Barrier (or waterproofing), and Drainage.
Fabric is laid between two layers of different materials, such as two different soil types, new construction, and soil, or new and old pavement. Separation is sometimes used interchangeably with stabilization, but there are fine distinctions.
In stabilization, the fabric is applied on top of a material that is highly compressible. Most often, this material is wet, soft soil. Here, the geotextile allows water to seep from the soft soil to draining material. As a result, it consolidates the basement layer, thus strengthening it and making it a more trustworthy base.
Above Geotextile Road Base Fabric Illustration by Tencate Geo
In reinforcement, the geotextile acts as a source of strength instead of strengthening the bottom layer like in stabilization. Using geotextile as reinforcement material is usually in the following areas:
Using geotextile infiltration is similar to using in stabilization. The main aim in both cases is to allow the passage of water from the covered layer. The goal of this application is to remove water while preventing soil and or any other fine particles from passing through. This is achieved in combination with a filter behind the geotextile. In this process, water is removed, rather than being filtered into a different material.
This application is almost the direct opposite of the above applications. In the moisture barrier, the geotextile is used to block water rather than allowing water to pass through. This is accomplished by applying an asphaltic suspension. As a result, the fabric becomes impermeable and suitable for use in construction projects such as pavement rehabilitation.
Geotextile material can help gather water or gas and then transport it along its plane, therefore providing seamless transmission. This process is what is traditionally called drainage function, which can be highly effective in chimney drains as well as drip drains.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of Non Woven Geotextile Fabric. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
Resources:
Woven Geotextiles are strong, finely spun strips of linen, polypropylene, or polyester material. It is typically impermeable, and water drainage through the material is minimal.
This geotextile’s durability (pull strength) and warp resistance is ideal beneath high load capacity surfaces, including gravel/rock footpaths, highways, and parking lots.
Below are the benefits of woven and non-woven geotextile products to help you make an informed decision.
Needle-punched and poly-spun varieties of non-woven geotextile fabric allow water to easily flow through and are both sturdy and versatile for landscaping drainage. The non-woven geotextile fabric is most commonly used as a landscape material to support adequate drainage, filtration, and ground stabilization.
Available as lightweight, medium weight, and heavy weight, these fabrics feel like felt to the touch.
High flow rates, substrate cushioning, and drain-field type applications. The 3 oz weight is often used behind retaining walls to act as a barrier between the dirt and gravel.
A medium weight non-woven fabrics allows water penetration without displacing existing soils. It also helps in controlling soil erosion, separation and drainage functions (French-drains). Additionally we see these weighted fabrics utilized beneath gravel paths acting as a separation barrier between the gravel and the dirt below.
Heavy weight non-woven fabrics are great for applications requiring strength and permeability. They are more resistant to puncturing and their durability makes them a good choice underneath large rip-rap, geomembrane cushioning when applied to retention barriers and artificial lakes. Please note that toward the upper end of the weight spectrum (10 oz +) the water flow rate diminishes significantly due to the thickness of the material.
Heavy non-wovens are also used as a separation layer for sand under volleyball courts (8 oz), and to prevent the mixing of ballast and soil under railroad tracks (16 oz).
Note: If you are installing artificial turf, or pavers we have a Drainage mat roll available in multiple sizes and types.
View our full selection non-woven fabric by weight and size >
Woven Geotextiles also called driveway matting are processed by pressing and cutting polypropylene layers and then weaving them into high tensile sheets. The result is a premium filter that is resistant to foreign particle clogging from dirt, sand, or other debris.
The woven geotextile fabric can bear heavy loads, tolerate road rut, extend pavement life, and act as a significant sediment barrier.
It should be noted that this fabric’s low permeability is not ideal where drainage is necessary. Woven geotextile fabrics work best when a tightly wound, nonporous, uniform material is needed.
Woven geotextiles are an excellent choice for projects requiring water to flow over a subsurface.
Woven geotextiles are versatile and are manufactured in three varieties: slit film woven geotextiles, monofilament geotextiles, and combination woven geotextiles.
The best type of fabric for a drainage project such as a drain field or french drain is non-woven geotextile landscape fabric.
If you're project requires high strength and also good drainage then a high end combination woven fabric could be suitable for your application. If you're looking for a particular model/brand of fabric that you don't see on our site then please contact us and let us know what you're looking for as we likely supply the fabric or offer an equivalent product.
Note: We also offer Curlex erosion control products as well.
Eastgate Supply Sales and Support - (800) 583-
DOWNLOAD FULL GEOTEX INSTALL GUIDE HERE >
NONWOVEN FABRIC APPLICATION SHEET >
For more information, please visit Building Non Woven Fabric.