Geotextile Abrasion Tester

Theory and Method

Abrasion removes material through repeated micro-cutting and fatigue at the fiber surface. When a coarse abrasive slides across a geotextile under load, individual filaments deform, fibrillate, and eventually fracture. The fabric loses cross-sectional area in the abraded zone long before any visible hole appears. Because tensile strength depends directly on how much intact fiber crosses the load path, measuring residual strength captures damage that visual inspection misses entirely.

The QualiGTX™ GAT applies this principle with a two-plate arrangement. The operator clamps the specimen across the stationary upper plate, measuring 50 mm × 200 mm, and secures the abrasive paper to the matching lower plate. A 6 kg mass presses the two surfaces together, generating a constant contact pressure over the full test. The lower plate then reciprocates through a 25 mm stroke at 90 cycles per minute while the digital counter tracks progress toward the preset cycle count.

Test severity comes from three variables working together: contact pressure, stroke distance, and cycle count. Holding the first two constant lets the laboratory compare materials on a single scale. After the run finishes, the operator transfers the abraded specimen to a tensile testing machine and records breaking force. Dividing that value by the strength of an unabraded control specimen from the same roll yields the strength retention percentage, and the difference reports abrasion damage as a single comparable number.