A Constitutive Model for Describing the Tensile Response of Woven Polyethylene Terephthalate Geogrids after Damage

Abstract

A constitutive model was used to describe the tensile response of two woven Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) geogrids, before and after mechanical damage. The model parameters of undamaged and damaged specimens were estimated via numerical regressions of test results. For each sample, the experimental and fitted tensile strengths were statistically compared using hypothesis tests. For each geogrid, tensile load–strain curves of damaged samples were drawn by applying scaling factors to the plot of the undamaged sample. The curve fittings resulted in high R2 values for undamaged and damaged specimens of the geogrids. For most samples, there was no significant mean difference between the experimental and fitted tensile strength. The model allowed us to describe the load–strain curve of a geogrid from its tensile properties: εmax, Tmax and Ji. Regardless of the type of damage (in laboratory or in situ), the model was able to describe the load–strain curves of damaged samples using data from undamaged samples and scaling factors.