Abstract: Because of the containing iron, glass and ceramics in solid waste, the geomembrane may be easily damaged and results in infiltrating into the surrounding ground and water; so it is very important how to evaluate the puncture performance of liner system. Taking into account the tensile strength, the thickness of geomembrane and the diameter of puncture probe, an evaluation formula of puncture resistance is presented based on the thin-walled structural mechanics theory; and the calculated values are compared with the experimental values. The results show that the calculation results of geomembrane are consistent with the puncture test results; but the calculation results of liner system composed of geomembrane and geotextiles are only about 70 percent of the test results. Geotextile used together with geomembrane could significantly improve puncture performance of liner system; so the geotextile should be spread on geomembrane for protection geomembrane. With an increase of tensile strength of geomembrane, puncture resistance becomes larger. Puncture resistance of geomembrans placed on compacted soil increases with ground strength and the trend is almost similar for different types of geomembranes. The results have certain referential value for the design of liner system

Key words: solid waste landfill, liner system, puncture, resistance force