**3. Fibers used for polymeric synthetic fabrics**

#### **3.1. Natural fibers**

Geotextile products have the characteristics of so-called tailor-made materials, which are known to function for specific applications. The long-term performance of geotextiles has a close relationship with the stability of the applied structure and practical applications such as continuous new method and new technology [3, 4]. As the demand and necessity to high-performance products gradually increase, composite products, environment-friendly products, environment adaptive products, hybrid, or smart products should be developed. In response to this, the development and advancement of the evaluation method are pro-

International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) Education Committee established that geotextiles can be classified broadly based on the manufacturing method and geotextiles is a continuous sheet of woven, nonwoven, knitted, or stitch-bonded fibers or yarns. Sheets are flexible and permeable and generally have a cloth-like appearance. Geotextile is used for separation, filtra-

In general, sustainable geosynthetics mentioned here are classified as "Usual Geosynthetics"

In here, "Usual Geosynthetics" refers to the function-oriented long-term maintenance and environment-adaptive products introduced, and "Green Geosynthetics" refers to environ-

In this chapter, we will introduce "Sustainable Geotextiles," which is differentiated from geo-

The geotextile products and the polymeric raw materials are shown in **Table 1**. As the additives, internal fillers, antioxidants, carbon black, emulsions, and plasticizers are used for improving and complementing the physical properties, glass fiber, carbon fiber, aramid fiber,

and "Green Geosynthetics" based on required performance as shown in **Figure 1**.

textile products to hybrid geocomposites except the traditional geotextile products.

tion, drainage, reinforcement, and anti-erosion applications [5].

ment-friendly degradable geosynthetics, respectively.

**2. Raw materials for geotextile products**

gressing steadily.

**Figure 1.** Sustainable geosynthetics.

76 Engineered Fabrics

Natural fibers used in geotextile products are very limited, but they were first used as geotextile products. They were mainly applied in fiber, yarn, and knit form, and their demand increased as nonwoven- and woven-type products were developed. Since geotextiles of natural fibers have the advantage of being eco-friendly materials, the utility of geotextile products has recently begun to reappear. The raw materials of the products also include cotton, jute, coir, straw, and other stem forms of waste assembly, and it is very diverse. However, since it is not used much and cannot be mass-produced compared with synthetic materials, it poses a difficult problem to create demand. Some of them use civil engineering natural fiber products as slope stabilization, erosion control, drainage, etc.

#### **3.2. Synthetic fibers**

One of the conditions that geosynthetic products must have is economic advantages, which is a very real problem directly linked to manufacturing costs. Polyolefin, polyester, and so on are widely used as synthetic polymer fibers, and polyurethane, glass, and carbon-based polymers are applied to very limited fields in order to give a special purpose and function. Demand creation of geosynthetic products using polymer materials can be increased, and new functional products are expected to be developed in parallel with the development of various additives.

process in the case of short fibers and laminated by spunbonding process in the case of long

Polymeric Synthetic Fabrics to Improve Stability of Ground Structure in Civil Engineering…

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81246

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In general, the constituent fibers form a disorderly entangled structure, so that they have excellent mechanical and mechanical properties, and polypropylene and polyester fibers are mainly used. Normally nonwovens are used for filter and separation functions. A nonwoven is a geotextile in the form of a manufactured sheet, web, or batt of directionally or randomly orientated fibers, filaments, or other elements, mechanically and/or thermally and/or chemically bonded. Nonwovens are used in filtration, drainage, separation, protection, and/or ero-

Fine soil particles can be captured in between the three-dimensional fiber entanglement of the nonwoven and prevent movement of these into the usually coarse "neighbor" soil. This way the buildup of a filter stable layer is possible. The geotextile filter can be dimensioned with

It is a geocomposite produced by bonding bentonite clay to a geotextile or geomembrane or filling bentonite clay between two geotextiles. The geotextile-made geotextile clay pottery often has a needle bent through the bentonite layer to increase internal shear resistance. It is effective as a barrier against liquids or gases when bentonite is hydrated. It is commonly used with geomembranes and is used as filler in landfills (**Figure 3**). GCL is also a factory-manufactured hydraulic barrier consisting of a layer of bentonite or other very-low-permeability materials supported by geotextiles and/or geomembranes, mechanically held together by needling,

There are many opinions on how to prepare measures to be protected against or prevent catastrophic disasters such as tsunami and Katrina which have recently occurred, but one of the obvious ways of doing this is that it is closely related to advance prevention as well as disaster recovery. To do this, the method is the use of geotextile products. Geotextile containers, which are used instead of building rigid structures such as rocks and concrete in rivers, coasts, and harbors, are used as geotextile containers that are currently being used for this purpose worldwide, and they are used to construct flexible structures, and this technique has

Also, geotextile container is classified as geobags, geotubes, and geocontainers depending on the size and manufacturing method. The geotextile container is made by mechanically or hydraulically filling the soil including dredged soil in the geotextile bag. Generally, a geobag

Geotubes are manufactured in permeable geotextile and are filled with sand or dredged soil by hydraulic or mechanical methods. The diameter and length of the geotube depend on site conditions and installation possibilities, usually 150–180 m, 4–5 m wide, and 1.5–2 m high.

; it is usually used as a sand filling

.

fibers in a weight of about 200–800 g/m<sup>2</sup>

sion control applications.

available filter calculations [6, 7].

**4.2. Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs)**

stitching, or chemical adhesives (**Figure 4**).

**4.3. Geotubes and geocontainers**

been successfully applied [8, 9].

is a small geotextile container with a capacity of 0.3–5.0 m<sup>3</sup>

material, and it is finished with a small sewing machine.

#### **3.3. Recycled fibers**

Since the fiber polymer materials used in the manufacture of geosynthetic products are often used in large quantities, therefore, the cost is low. Therefore, if the performance is similar, the manufacturing cost should be low. In view of this, in the case of nonwoven geotextile, products using already recycled polyester materials are being manufactured and sold, and interest and research on recycled polymeric materials are being actively pursued in terms of environment friendliness. However, in the case of the geosynthetic products manufactured using the recycled polymeric material, the physical properties are deteriorated, and therefore, there is a problem that it needs to be supplemented or improved in the future.
