Interface Shear Behavior of Landfill Composite Liner Systems: A Finite Element Analysis Available to Purchase

The use of various types of geosynthetics to construct landfill composite liner systems results in interfaces between different geosynthetics, and between geosynthetics and compacted cohesive soil liners/subgrade soil. These interfaces are potentially critical for stability due to their in-plane shear behavior. Conventional limit equilibrium analyses can provide an overall assessment of composite liner system stability; however, they lack the capability to compute displacements along the critical shear plane, and the resulting strain levels within the composite liner systems. In this study, the shear displacements of typical landfill composite liner system interfaces in response to municipal solid waste loads were evaluated using a finite element analysis. The interface shear-displacement parameters determined from available laboratory direct shear test data were used for the analysis. A parametric study was performed for soft, intermediate and stiff municipal solid waste conditions to evaluate the effect of different types of municipal solid waste on composite liner behavior.