The objectives of this research are to improve understanding of flexural mechanisms in clay soil; to define relationships between distortion and permeability; to develop field methodology to evaluate cap distress; and to quantify effects of reinforcement and soil stiffness on remedial geomembrane stress. Experimental study will be made of clay soil flexure and permeability. The relationship between bottom subsidence, surface depressions and internal stress and strain in caps using strain compatibility and crack propagation models adapted from finite element analysis of concrete will be modeled. The second phase of work will involve extending the FE analysis to include the effects of geosynthetic reinforcement and its interaction with a low-permeability soil layer. The FE model will be calibrated with the use of a large- scale physical model.
