Durability of a polypropylene geotextile in marine environments: 3 years data

The geosynthetics can be used for the construction of many marine and coastal engineering structures. In these applications, the materials can be in contact with some agents capable of causing unwanted changes in their properties. In this work, a nonwoven polypropylene geotextile (stabilised with 0.4% of Chimassorb 944) was exposed in situ to some degradation agents often present in marine environments. The geotextile was exposed to weathering, immersed in seawater and exposed to the action of tides. These exposures were carried out in Portugal (Archipelago of the Azores, Pico and Faial Islands) and lasted for 3 years. The damage occurred in the geotextile (during the degradation tests) was evaluated by monitoring some physical (mass per unit area and thickness) and mechanical (tensile behaviour) properties.