Following the successful seminars on life prediction of geosynthetics organized by ERA, Leatherhead, England and the first seminar on “Lifetime of Geosynthetics” organized by SKZ, Würzburg, Germany as a German language seminar, the second seminar held at Würzburg was given in English language.
Reciept of International Guests
In total, there were over 50 participants from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
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| Meeting new friends at SKZ within the geosynthetic family |
The program included:
- Requirements on geosynthetics
- Environmental factors in soil
- Chemical degradation of polymers
- Loads and mechanical damages
- Stabilisation of polymers
- Ageing of UV-exposed polymers
- Fundamentals of lifetime prediction
- Accelerated creep tests
- Accelerated ageing tests
- Evaluation of clay geosynthetic barriers in landfill cover systems
- Lifetime prediction of covered and exposed geosynthetics
- Evaluation of geosynthetics for reinforcements
- Observations in the field on lifetime and durability of geosynthetics
- Evaluation of drainage geocomposites in landfill cover systems
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| Seminar speakers from left to right: Dr. John Greenwood, ERA (UK), Helmut Zanzinger, SKZ (GER), Professor Dr. Robert Koerner, Geosynthetic Institute (USA), Dr. Hartmut Schröder, BAM, Berlin (GER); not pictured: Peter Trubiroha, BAM, Berlin (GER) |
Geosynthetic Insight
The seminar included a tour of SKZ’s geosynthetics testing facilities:
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), artificial weathering, environmental stress crack resistance (ESCR), dynamic tensile testing, simulation of mechanical damage, pull-out tests of geogrids, protection efficiency with cylinder test, ageing with high-pressure autoclaves, conventional compressive creep tests, shear creep tests at elevated temperatures, creep tests with stepped isothermal method (SIM), water tightness test of polymeric geosynthetic barriers, water permittivity of clay geosynthetic barriers, burst tests of geosynthetic barriers, transmissivity of drainage geocomposites, water permeability of geotextiles and performance tests for the simulation of desiccation of clay geosynthetic barriers.
All participants received a documentation inclusive a CD containing the seminar lectures.
Entertaining Professional and Cultural Program
The evening of the first day concluded with a guided tour starting at the Residence Würzburg’s most outstanding palace with the award as UNESCO-World Heritage and finished at the Fortress Marienberg a huge castle on top of the river Main with a beautiful view to downtown at summer temperatures. In a historic old castle restaurant, the delegates could enjoy the evening at delicious food and interesting conversation to make new friends within the worldwide geosynthetics family.
Contact
Süddeutsches Kunststoff-Zentrum (SKZ)
Dipl.-Ing. Helmut Zanzinger
Phone:+49 (0)931 4104-259
h.zanzinger@skz.de
Würzburg, 12th June 2007
