Seismic stability analysis of expanded MSW landfills using pseudo-static limit equilibrium method

Abstract

Capacity expansion of existing landfills is the most economical alternative to constructing new landfills where cost of land is prohibitive. From the safety point of view, the stability analyses of existing landfills expanded either vertically and/or laterally are required for different stages of construction, operation and during closure of a landfill. In the present study, a pseudo-static limit equilibrium seismic stability analysis was performed for a typical side-hill type municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill expanded using an engineered berm. Seismic stability analyses were performed for the two critical cases, namely when the failure surface passes below the berm (under berm) and when the failure surface passes over the back slope of the berm (over berm). Close-form solutions were developed for the upper bound and lower bound factor of safety and the yield acceleration of such slopes under both failure conditions. From parametric analyses it was observed that as the height of the berm increased, the factor of safety for both the over-berm failure and the under-berm failure conditions also increased. The average factor of safety and yield acceleration coefficient were found and the under-berm failure condition became critical for a back slope steeper than 1.7H : 1V. The average factor of safety decreased as both horizontal and vertical seismic accelerations increased. Comparisons between the present results and those in the literature for the static case showed good agreement and the present results of the pseudo-static seismic case were found to be of particular importance.