Centrifuge Modeling and Instrumentation of Geogrid-Reinforced Soil Barriers of Landfill Covers
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 1
Abstract
An experimental program was conducted to investigate the influence of geogrid as a reinforcement layer within the soil barrier of a landfill cover system under various levels of distortion. Centrifuge model tests were performed at 40 g on soil barriers subjected to continuous differential settlements using a 4.5 m radius beam centrifuge having a capacity of 2,500 g-kN available at IIT Bombay. Differential settlements were induced using a motor-based differential settlement simulator designed for a high gravity environment. Marker-based digital image analysis was adopted to estimate strain distribution along the geogrid layer and in the soil along the soil-geogrid interface at the onset of differential settlements. Various sensors, such as miniature pore pressure transducers, linear variable differential transformers, and strain gauges, were used to measure the water breakthrough, deformation profiles of the soil barrier, and the mobilized tensile load of model geogrids, respectively. Centrifuge model test results reveal that both 0.6 m and 1.2 m thick unreinforced soil barriers with an overburden pressure equivalent to that of a cover system experienced cracks extending up to the full thickness of the soil barrier and lost their integrity at low distortion levels. Soil barriers of 0.6 m and 1.2 m thickness with an overburden equivalent to that of landfill covers were reinforced with a suitable geogrid layer, and were found to sustain large distortions without any water breakthrough. An increase in the mobilization of the tensile load of the geogrid was noticed with an increase in the thickness of the soil barrier and overburden pressure equivalent to that of a cover system. This study also reveals the possibility of a reduction in the thickness of the soil barrier when it is reinforced with a suitable geogrid placed at one-fourth the thickness of the soil barrier from its top surface.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The writers would like to thank the Centrifuge team at the National Geotechnical Centrifuge Facility of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai-400076, India, for their untiring support throughout the present study. The writers would also like to thank the reviewers for their critical review and suggestions for improving the quality of the manuscript.
References
ASTM D4595. (2005). “Standard test method for tensile properties of geotextiles by the wide-width strip method.” Annual book of ASTM standards, Section 4, Vol. 04.13, Geosynthetics. ASTM, Philadelphia.
Benson, C. H., Daniel, D. E., and Boutwell, G. P. (1999). “Field performance of compacted clay liners.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 125(5), 390–403.
Gourc, J. P., Camp, S., Viswanadham, B. V. S., and Rajesh, S. (2010). “Deformation behaviour of clay cap barriers of hazardous waste containment systems: Full-scale and centrifuge tests.” Geotext. Geomembr., 28(3), 281–291.
Heerten, G., and Koerner, R. (2008). “Cover systems for landfills and brownfields.” Land Contam. Reclam., 16(4), 343–356.
Jessberger, H. L., and Stone, K. J. L. (1991). “Subsidence effect on clay barriers.” Geotechnique, 41(2), 185–194.
Keck, K. N., and Seitz, R. R. (2002). Potential for subsidence at the low-level radioactive waste disposal area, INEEL/EXT-02-01154, Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC.
Koerner, R. M., and Daniel, D. E. (1997). Final covers for solid waste landfills and abandoned dumps, ASCE, New York, 256.
Kuo, C. M., and Hsu, T. R. (2003). “Traffic induced reflective cracking on pavements with geogrid reinforced asphalt concrete overlay.” Proc., Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board (CD-ROM), Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, 1–23.
Rajesh, S., and Viswanadham, B. V. S. (2009). “Evaluation of geogrid as a reinforcement layer in clay based engineered barriers.” Appl. Clay Sci., 46(2), 153–165.
Rajesh, S., and Viswanadham, B. V. S. (2011). “Hydro-mechanical behaviour of geogrid reinforced soil barriers of landfill cover systems.” Geotext. Geomembr., 29(1), 51–64.
Rodatz, W., and Oltmanns, W. (1997). “Permeability and stress-strain behaviour of fiber-reinforced soils for landfill liners systems.” Advanced landfill liner systems, H. August, U. Holzloner, and T. Meggyes, eds., Thomas Telford, London, 321–332.
Sivakumar Babu, G. L., Reddy, K. R., and Chouskey, S. K. (2010). “Constitutive model for municipal solid waste incorporating mechanical creep and biodegradation-induced compression.” Waste Manage. J., 30(1), 11–22.
Springman, S., Bolton, M., Sharma, J., and Balachandran, S. (1992). “Modelling and instrumentation of a geotextile in the geotechnical centrifuge.” Proc. Earth Reinforcement Practice, H. Ochiai, S. Hayashi, and J. Otani, eds., A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 167–172.
Viswanadham, B. V. S., and Mahesh, K. V. (2002). “Modeling deformation behaviour of clay liners in a small centrifuge.” Can. Geotech. J., 39(6), 1406–1418.
Viswanadham, B. V. S., and König, D. (2004). “Studies on scaling and instrumentation of a geogrid.” Geotext. Geomembr., 22(5), 307–328.
Viswanadham, B. V. S., and Jessberger, H. L. (2005). “Centrifuge modeling of geosynthetic reinforced clay liner of landfills.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 131(5), 564–574.
Viswanadham, B. V. S., and Muthukumaran, A. E. (2007). “Influence of geogrid layer on the integrity of compacted clay liners of landfills.” Soils Found., 47(3), 517–532.
Viswanadham, B. V. S., and Rajesh, S. (2009). “Centrifuge model tests on clay based engineered barriers subjected to differential settlement.” Appl. Clay Sci., 42(3–4), 460–472.
Viswanadham, B. V. S., Jha, B. K., and Sengupta, S. S. (2009). “Centrifuge testing of fiber reinforced soil liners for waste contained systems.” Pract. Period. Hazard. Toxic Radioact. Waste Manage., 13(1), 45–58.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 1 • January 2012
Pages: 26 - 37
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 14, 2010
Accepted: Apr 25, 2011
Published online: Apr 27, 2011
Published in print: Jan 1, 2012
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.