Our manufacturing process provides advantages to the seaming process in the field. The first advantage we provide is the resin we utilize to make the geomembrane is of a higher melt index than any other geomembranes in the industry. That higher melt index actually allows the seaming process to take place at lower temperatures and higher speeds. The second advantage our manufacturing process provides is our unmatched thickness control across the roll but, more importantly, also in the machine direction. And that consistent thickness in the machine direction aids the seaming process. First step when you’re going to be welding geomembrane is actually setting up the machine. So, you have a pressure setting, where you adjust it for the thickness of the material that you’re welding and the type — whether it be HDPE or LLDPE. So, you set the pressure of the machine, and then you have upper contour rollers and lower contour rollers that apply pressure to the sheet to basically push it into the wedge, where it gets heated. Once you have all of the parameters locked in, then it’s a matter of the appropriate speed of the machine. The speed depends on the ambient temperature. Obviously the hotter it is, and the thinner the material is, the faster the machine can run. Before you start welding on site, you know, you do what’s called a field trial seam. You actually weld a representative piece of the material — the same material you’re going to be welding. You take a representative strip of that material — you actually weld it together — and then you take it and you destructively test it with a field trial seam. What you’re doing is taking peels, and and you’re doing shears, and you’re making sure that the weld is within parameters of the specification. To learn more about the seaming process of HDPE geomembrane, please contact us at agruamerica.com.
