STRESS CRACKING OF POLYETHYLENE GEOMEMBRANES: FIELD EXPERIENCE. DURABILITY AND AGING OF GEOSYNTHETICS. PAPERS PRESENTED AT A SEMINAR HELD AT THE GEOSYNTHETIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE, DREXEL UNIVERSITY, PHILADELPHIA, DECEMBER 8-9 1988

The characteristics and typical appearance of stress cracking, including environmental stress cracking and brittle cracking due to ultraviolet radiation in polyethylene liners of surface impoundments, are presented and discussed. Cracking predominantly occurs in lining systems that are overstressed due to restrained thermal contraction during low-temperature cycles, due to residual stresses, and due to notch geometries acting as local stress concentrators. Therefore, cracking occurs primarily at seams. Stress cracking per se is not a fundamental problem in polyethylene geomembranes, although it is acknowledged that geomembrane manufactured from some resins and some seam geometries may be more susceptible to stress cracking than others.(a) for the covering abstract of the seminar see IRRD 824467.