The short-term and long-term performance of bituminous geomembrane (BGM) seams are examined using both small-scale and large-scale tests. Different BGM products, different sustained tensile loads, different weld qualities, and different overburden stresses are examined. The BGM seams are shown to be very susceptible to creep rupture under sustained tensile loads. Time to rupture and strain at rupture for acceptable welds are both exponentially correlated with the sustained load, for the different BGM products examined. With the increasing tensile load from 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% of sheet maximum tensile strength, the time to rupture decreased from 30–50 days (5%), 5 days (10%), 0.8 day (20%), 0.2 day (30%), to 0.03 day (40%) and, the strain at rupture increased from 5%, 7%, 13%, 17%, to 20–30%. In large-scale tests simulating field conditions, the BGM seam creep ruptured within 24 days when the overburden stress was 20 kPa, and within ≤0.2 day when the overburden stress reached 50 kPa. The consequences of liquids or gases readily permeating through failed seam should be evaluated before using BGMs in an environment where tensile stresses can develop (e.g. due to differential settlement, subgrade irregularity, or downdrag).

中文翻译：

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弹性体沥青土工膜接缝的蠕变断裂行为


通过小规模和大规模测试来检查沥青土工膜 (BGM) 接缝的短期和长期性能。对不同的 BGM 产品、不同的持续拉伸载荷、不同的焊接质量和不同的覆盖应力进行了检查。 BGM 接缝在持续拉伸载荷下非常容易发生蠕变断裂。对于所检查的不同 BGM 产品，可接受焊缝的断裂时间和断裂应变均与持续载荷呈指数相关。随着拉伸载荷从板材最大拉伸强度的5%、10%、20%、30%、40%增加，断裂时间从30-50天（5%）、5天（10%）、0.8天减少(20%)、0.2 天 (30%) 到 0.03 天 (40%)，并且断裂应变从 5%、7%、13%、17% 增加到 20-30%。在模拟现场条件的大规模试验中，当上覆应力为20 kPa时，BGM煤层蠕变破裂时间为24 d；当上覆应力达到50 kPa时，BGM煤层蠕变破裂时间为≤0.2 d。在可能产生拉应力的环境中（例如，由于不均匀沉降、路基不规则或下拖力），在使用 BGM 之前，应评估液体或气体容易渗入失效接缝的后果。