Leachate Pressure Effect on a System Reliability–Based Design of Reinforced Soil Walls for a Vertical Expansion of MSW Landfills
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 23, Issue 4
Abstract
The issue of vertical capacity expansion of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills with reinforced soil walls (RSWs) is addressed in the present investigation. The influence of different conditions of leachate levels in MSW landfills is a major cause of translational failures. Poor hydraulic conductivity, clogging of drainage because of fines, and freezing of drainage in landfills are the crucial factors of the buildup of leachate pressure. Heterogeneity and different fill ages in MSW landfills gradually change the inherent properties of landfills. The assumption-independent component failures of sliding, eccentricity, bearing capacity, tension, and pullout modes in predicting the series system reliability index of RSWs against translational failure under six leachate level conditions may produce large errors because component failures are usually dependent on one another. Therefore, the present paper demonstrates the feasibility of considering dependent failure modes to estimate the dimensions of RSWs to maintain the external and internal stability under six different leachate buildup conditions. The variability associated with the cohesion of solid waste, the apparent cohesion between liner components beneath the wedges, the friction angle of MSW, and the interface friction angle beneath the wedges is considered for the estimation of the lower bound of the series system reliability index. The limit equilibrium method is employed to assess the stability of an RSW for an expanded MSW landfill. Further, the design charts for the optimum values of width and height of the RSW are provided for different leachate levels (hw) under six leachate buildup conditions by targeting various lower bounds of a system reliability index ≥3.0. The design values of the number of reinforcement layers (n) are also provided corresponding to the optimum dimensions of the RSW subjected to different leachate levels.
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International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 23 • Issue 4 • April 2023
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Feb 20, 2022
Accepted: Oct 23, 2022
Published online: Feb 7, 2023
Published in print: Apr 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Jul 7, 2023
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