Ultrasonic cleaning of clogged geosynthetic drain

This paper presents clogging induced reduction in the water flow capacity of six commercially available geotextiles. Each drain material was placed within fine-grained soil slurry undergoing staged consolidation up to 400 kPa. The mechanism of physical clogging and subsequently the effect of ultrasonic excitation in the removal of clogged particles have been explained. The drainability performance of geotextiles has been evaluated by conducting in-plane (transmissivity) and cross-plane (permittivity) permeability tests. Cross-plane flow of clogged specimen reduced more drastically than in-plane flow. Clogged specimens showed significant reduction in the flow capacity under increasing normal pressure, however, after ultrasonic cleaning clogging potential reduced nearly to unity for all geotextiles tested. Ultrasonic cleaning efficiency for all clogged geotextiles was more than 80% and the severity of clogging rose with decreasing thickness. However, after ultrasonic cleaning for 5 minutes duration the clogging potential reduced to unity, which was irrespective of applied normal pressure.