Limit states of buried polymer environmental structures

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Buried polymer structures that are necessary to alleviate two environmental challenges faced by our growing urban areas will be studied. The first involves geosynthetic liners (thin plastic and clay/fabric liners) to retain contaminants in large landfills for hundreds of years to prevent unacceptable environmental impact (e.g., pollution of surface and ground water). The second uses polymer stormwater retention structures (underground plastic tanks) to manage the increased quantity and decreased quality of runoff from rain and melting snow caused by landscape changes from urban development to limit environmental damage (e.g., erosion, nonpoint source pollution). To provide environmental protection, rupture of geosynthetic liners when buried beneath enormous amounts of waste and collapse of polymer stormwater retention structures when subjected to large vehicle forces must be prevented. Knowledge of the physical demand on the polymer structure and the limit states of the polymer structure (puncture, collapse) are essential to prevent unacceptable performance.