ABSTRACT
The durability of synthetic geomembranes is considered to be one of the most critical points in ensuring long-term landfill performance. The classic uniaxial tensile test is used to assess the mechanical values of the geomembranes, i.e. tensile strength and strain at break and/or yield points, secant tensile modulus at 10% strain. Water is chosen as the medium to characterize the permeability of the aged geomembranes, because it is the main compound in the case of municipal landfill leachate. The opacity of the bituminous geomembranes is too high to allow micro-(FTir) spectrophotometry measurement. In this study, low-density polyethylene, PVC, EPDM geomembranes were exposed to landfill leachate for 56 months at 10-20 C. As a conclusion of these analytical tests, it was found that there is no significant oxidation of the geomembranes, whatever the environmental conditions. The exposure of 16 months at room temperature and 3.5 months at 50 C show that all the tested geomembranes keep their initial characteristics.
