Three-Dimensional Seismic Stability Analysis and Permanent Displacement of MSW Landfills

A three-dimensional pseudo-static analysis method is developed to conduct seismic stability analysis for potential failures of a landfill along the liner system. In this calculated model, assuming that the horizontal coefficient k_h and vertical coefficient k_v are the same and known everywhere, the factor of safety and yield acceleration can be calculated based on the developed equations. Effects of the most significant parameters considered are investigated in this 3D model. Finally, the permanent displacement based on the calculated yield acceleration is obtained using the Newmark method. From the analysis results, it can be concluded that simply ignoring the size of a landfill will lead to over estimating the factor of safety and permanent displacement of landfills. Therefore, a 3D analysis considering the geometrical configuration of landfills will be more suitable for its seismic stability evaluation.