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Seismic stability analyses for landfill cover systems under different seepage buildup conditions

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Abstract

Drainage of landfill cover systems is often inadequate and buildup of seepage forces can occur over time. However, in most design analyses the seepage buildup is neglected and assumed to have only a minor impact on the seismic performance of landfill cover systems. Actually, simply ignoring the seepage buildup will lead to serious overestimation of the factor of safety. A new two-wedge method was developed to analyze the seismic stability of landfill cover systems under different seepage buildup conditions. The solutions of the factor of safety and the yield acceleration coefficient can be obtained, and the permanent displacement of landfill cover systems can also be calculated using the Newmark method. Based on the developed seismic analysis method, the effects of a parametric variation on the seismic stability and permanent displacement of landfill cover systems are presented.

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Abbreviations

c a :

Interface adhesion between cover soil and geomembrane

C A :

Total interface adhesion between cover soil and geomembrane

c p :

Cohesion of the cover soil

C P :

Total cohesion of the cover soil

E A :

Resultant force from passive wedge acting on active wedge

E P :

Resultant force from active wedge acting on passive wedge

FS:

Factor of safety for entire cover system

FSA :

Factor of safety against cover soil sliding on the geomembrane

FSP :

Factor of safety against sliding of the passive wedge

h :

Thickness of the cover soil

H :

Vertical height of the slope measured from the toe

h w :

Height of free water surface measured in the direction perpendicular to the slope

H w :

Vertical height of the free water surface measured from the toe

k h :

Horizontal seismic coefficient

k ho :

Maximum horizontal seismic coefficient

k hy :

Yield acceleration coefficient

L :

Length of the cover system

MHA:

Maximum horizontal acceleration

N A :

Effective force normal to the failure plane of the active wedge

N P :

Effective force normal to the failure plane of the passive wedge

T :

Geosynthetic reinforcement force

U h :

Resultant of the pore pressures acting on the interwedge surfaces

U n :

Resultant of the pore pressures acting perpendicular to the slope

U v :

Resultant of the vertical pore pressures acting on the passive wedge

W A :

Total weight of the active wedge

W P :

Total weight of the passive wedge

γ dry :

Dry unit weight of the cover soil

γ sat :

Saturated unit weight of the cover soil

γ w :

Unit weight of water

δ :

Interface friction angle between cover soil and geomembrane

β :

Slope angle of the cover slope

φ :

Friction angle of the cover soil

Δ:

Permanent displacement of the cover system

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Acknowledgments

Much of the work described in this paper was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 50708079, 40902079, 41072201 and 41172245, the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) under Grant No. 2012CB719803, the Shanghai Pujiang Program under Grant No. 11PJD021, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, and the Kwang-Hua Fund for College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University. The writers would like to greatly acknowledge all these financial supports and express the most sincere gratitude.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Geotechnical Engineering, Tongji University, Si Ping Road 1239, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Shi-Jin Feng

  2. Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tongji University, Si Ping Road 1239, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Li-Ya Gao

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  1. Shi-Jin Feng
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Correspondence to Shi-Jin Feng.

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Feng, SJ., Gao, LY. Seismic stability analyses for landfill cover systems under different seepage buildup conditions. Environ Earth Sci 66, 381–391 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-012-1619-x

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