Effects of Waste Composition and Decomposition on the Shear Strength of Municipal Solid Waste
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 10
Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of waste composition and decomposition on the shear strength of municipal solid waste. Waste was collected from two sources (an operating landfill and a transfer station) and degraded in laboratory anaerobic reactors to prepare wastes with different degrees of decomposition. Shear strength was measured in a 280-mm-diameter direct shear ring on nine wastes with normal stress ranging between 12 and 90 kPa. The Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion was used to determine shear strength parameters ( = friction angle and = cohesion intercept) of the wastes, and shear strength was selected at a horizontal displacement of 56 mm (i.e., 20% of the specimen diameter). A composite failure envelope regressed through shear strength versus normal stress data from all wastes was statistically significant, with and . A comparison between tests conducted in this study and in the literature indicates that larger are obtained for waste with a greater fraction of soil-like, gravel, and inert constituents, whereas lower are coincident with higher fractions of paper and cardboard or plastic. This effect of waste composition on is applicable when fibrous particles are primarily parallel with the shear plane, which is the common particle orientation in direct shear. Tests conducted in this study also indicate increases with decreasing volatile solids or the ratio of cellulose + hemicellulose to lignin (i.e., increasing decomposition). Contrasting correlations have been reported in the literature, attributed to the initial waste composition, which influences the effect of decomposition on . No correspondence was found between and waste composition or the degree of waste decomposition.
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Acknowledgments
Financial support for this study was provided by the University of Wisconsin–North Carolina State University bioreactor partnership (www.bioreactorpartnership.org), which was sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Grant No. EEC-0538500) and a consortium of industry partners (CH2Mhill, Geosyntec Consultants, Republic Services, Veolia Environmental Services, Waste Connections Inc., and Waste Management) through the National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for Innovation Program. Additional thanks are extended to Nima Sefidmazgi for assistance with the direct shear tests.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 10 • October 2012
Pages: 1161 - 1174
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 20, 2011
Accepted: Jan 25, 2012
Published online: Jan 28, 2012
Published in print: Oct 1, 2012
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