Manufacturing Quality Assurance (MQA) is independent of the MQC and includes inspections, verifications, audits, and evaluations of materials and workmanship necessary to determine and document the quality of a material.

2.  MANUFACTURING QUALITY CONTROL
AND QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM

2.1 Raw Material

Poly-Flex, Inc.'s quality control and quality assurance for HDPE and LLDPE geomembrane manufacturing starts with the testing of the raw materials. The resin manufacturers provide documentation confirming that the raw materials comply with Poly-Flex, Inc. specifications.

Resin manufacturers report the following properties with each resin shipment:

Density
This property is a measure of unit weight and is an indicator of the degree of crystallinity. It can be related to the material's chemical resistance, rigidity, permeability, tensile strength, and deformation characteristics.

Melt Index
This property is an indicator of the molecular weight and rheological properties of the polymer and can be related to the processability.

Carbon Black Content
(pre-compounded only)
The carbon black content is an important property to ensure protection against ultraviolet radiation. The raw materials may be pre-compounded with the carbon black. However, if resins are not pre-compounded, Poly-Flex, Inc. will supplement them with the appropriate quantity of carbon black before manufacturing liner.

2.1.1   Geomembrane Material Railcar Acceptance

All resins, additives and concentrates used in Poly-Flex geomembranes must have their physical integrity validated before they can be released into the production material stream. All incoming railcars are sampled by compartment; incoming materials not delivered by railcar are statistically sampled. Upon verification of the resin compliance with the specifications, the resin is pumped from the railcar into the silos dedicated to the production of the geomembrane.

1. Resin samples are taken from each of the four payload compartments in an incoming railcar.
2. Resin samples are sent to the laboratory. Using state of the art equipment, highly trained Quality Assurance personnel test the resin to ensure that it meets the specifications for producing Poly-Flex geomembranes. The following tests are performed and compared against Poly-Flex specifications:

   Property	Resins	Additives & Concentrates
   Density (ASTM D 1505)	•
   Melt Index (ASTM D 1238)	•
   Carbon Black Content (ASTM D 1603)		•
   Oxidative Induction Time (ASTM D 3895)	•	•

   
   

3. After meeting production specifications, the resin is pumped from its railcar into a silo dedicated to that material.
4. Off-spec material is returned to the vendor.

Applicable Test Methods

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

ASTM D 792		Specific gravity (relative density) and density of plastics by displacement
ASTM D 1004		Initial tear resistance of plastic sheeting
ASTM D 1238		Flow rates of thermoplastics by extrusion plastometers
ASTM D 1505		Density of plastics by the Density-Gradient technique
ASTM D 1603		Carbon black in olefin plastics
ASTM D 1898		Sampling of plastics
ASTM D 3895		Test method of oxidative induction time of polyolefins by thermal analysis
ASTM D 4437		Determining the integrity of field seams used in joining flexible polymeric sheet geomembranes
ASTM D 4833		Index Puncture Resistance of geotextiles, geomembranes and related products
ASTM D 5199		Test method for measuring nominal thickness of geotextiles and geomembrane
ASTM D 5323		Determination of 2% secant modulus for polyethylene geomembranes
ASTM D 5397		Procedure to perform a single point notched constant tensile load - Appendix (SP-NCTL) test
ASTM D 5596		Test method for microscopic evaluation of the dispersion of carbon black in polyolefin geosynthetics
ASTM D 5617		Multi-axial tension test for geosynthetics
ASTM D 5721		Practice for air-oven aging of polyolefin geomembranes
ASTM D 5885		Test method for oxidative induction time of polyolefin geosynthetics by high pressure differential scanning calorimetry
ASTM D 5994		Test method for measuring the core thickness of textured geomembranes
ASTM D 6692		Determining the integrity of nonreinforced geomembrane seams produced using thermo-fusion methods.
ASTM D 6693		Determining tensile properties of nonreinforced polyethylene and reinforced flexible polypropylene geomembranes.
ASTM D 7466		Test method for measuring the asperity height of textured geomembrane

Geosynthetic Research Institute (GRI) Standards

GM 10		Specification for the stress crack resistance of geomembrane sheet
GM 11		Accelerated weathering of geomembranes using a florescent UVA-condensation exposure device
GM 12		Measurement of the asperity height of textured geomembranes using a depth gauge

Addendum to Test Procedures

The following are modifications or clarifications to test procedures

1. Specifications are based on the average of Machine Direction (MD) and Cross Direction (XMD) values.
2. Specimens shall be taken uniformly across the width of the sheet as stated in ASTM D 1898.