Instability of municipal solid waste along the constant deviatoric stress path and its engineering significance

Abstract

To investigate the instability behaviours of municipal solid waste under the reduction of effective means stress, consolidated undrained (CU), constant shear drained (CSD) and constant shear undrained (CSU) tests were conducted on artificial waste specimens. In CU tests, the effective stress paths were modified by considering the particle compressibility, and the waste specimens did not exhibit pre-failure softening behaviours. Instability of the waste was observed in CSD tests, but was not observed in CSU tests. When the waste specimens became unstable, the axial strains increased rapidly and the volume was severely dilated. Softening of the waste specimens, manifested in the inability to maintain constant deviatoric stresses, was also observed. For waste specimens with similar void ratios, the instability points were located around an instability line (IL), and the slope of the IL decreased with an increase in the void ratio. Some factors, including the stress path and deformation characteristic of waste, may lead to the instability of waste specimens in CSD tests by influencing the effects of reinforcements. In engineered landfills, high pore pressure is often generated in waste mass and then leads to the obvious reduction of the effective stress of waste; thus, waste instability needs to be considered in the safety evaluation of waste slopes.