Shear strength of geosynthetic composite systems for design of landfill liner and cover slopes

Torsional ring shear tests were performed on composite specimens that simulate the field alignment of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill liner and cover system components. Simultaneous shearing was provided to each test specimen without forcing failure to occur through a pre-determined plane. Composite liner specimens consisted of a textured geomembrane (GM) underlain by a needle-punched geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) which in turn underlain by a compacted silty clay. Hydrated specimens were sheared at eleven different normal stress levels. Test results revealed that shear strength of the composite liner system can be controlled by different failure modes depending on the magnitude of normal stress and the comparative values of the GCL interface and internal shear strength. Failure following these modes may result in a bilinear or trilinear peak strength envelope and a corresponding stepped residual strength envelope. Composite cover specimens that comprised textured GM placed on unreinforced smooth GM-backed GCL resting on compacted sand were sheared at five different GCL hydration conditions and a normal stress that is usually imposed on MSW landfill cover geosynthetic components. Test results showed that increasing the GCL hydration moves the shearing plane from the GCL smooth GM backing/sand interface to that of the textured GM/hydrated bentonite. Effects of these interactive shear strength behaviors of composite liner and cover system components on the possibility of developing progressive failure in landfill slopes were discussed. Recommendations for designing landfill geosynthetic-lined slopes were subsequently given. Three-dimensional stability analysis of well-documented case history of failed composite system slope was presented to support the introduced results and recommendations.     

水化针刺GCL+GM复合衬里的单剪破坏特征

针刺GCL和HDPE土工膜(GM)广泛应用于填埋场防渗衬里,GCL的内部剪切强度和GCL/GM界面剪切强度是填埋场复合衬里边坡滑移稳定性的控制因素。通过开展不限定剪切破坏面的水化针刺GCL+GM复合衬里大单剪试验,获得了剪切过程中GCL/GM界面位移和GCL内部位移发展规律,分析了GM的糙面分别与GCL的有纺面和无纺面接触时的峰值强度,揭示了GCL+GM复合衬里的整体剪切破坏特征。试验结果表明:大单剪试验能够正确和合理地模拟GCL与GM间的相互作用,GCL+GM复合衬里中的极限破坏面不仅会随着法向应力的增加而发生转移,甚至出现GCL内部和GCL/GM界面同时成为剪切破坏面的临界状态。     

Dynamic shear behavior of GMB/CCL interface under cyclic loading

The dynamic shear behavior of composite liner interface is of great importance for landfill seismic analysis. In this study, an experimental investigation of the shear behavior of the interface between smooth high density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane (GMB) and compacted clay liner (CCL) is presented. A series of displacement-controlled cyclic shear tests were conducted to investigate the effects of displacement amplitudes, normal stress levels and number of cycles on the GMB/CCL interface shear behavior. Cyclic loading with higher displacement amplitude will produce greater vertical contraction and lower interface initial shear stiffness. Also, significant shear strength degradation was observed within the first 5 shearing cycles, then followed by slight interface reinforcement in subsequent cycles. The dynamic shear modulus of GMB/CCL interface is dependent on both normal stress levels and displacement amplitudes, while the damping ratio is only affected by displacement amplitudes. Finally, a method considering the GMB/CCL composite liner as an equivalent soil layer was proposed, which is useful for landfill seismic analysis.     

Evaluation of Interface Shear Strength between Geosynthetics Under Wet Condition

This paper presents direct shear testing data for interfaces between a nonwoven geotextile or two types of geosynthetic clay liners (GCL) (reinforced and unreinforced) and two types of geomembranes (smooth and textured). In this study, the effect of moisture on interface shear behavior was investigated by performing shear tests in both dry and wet (or hydrated) conditions because the geosynthetic interfaces in a landfill are easily exposed to rain, leachate and groundwater beneath the liners. The degree of strength reduction with increasing displacement and the effect of the normal stress level on friction angles were examined, and the modified hydration method applied for the GCL was also validated. The test results showed that the normal stress level, interface water presence and hydration methods dominated the interface shear strength and behavior. The relationship between the peak secant friction angle and the normal stress demonstrated that the friction angle decreased with increasing normal stress, implying that the shear strength for safe design should be determined by using the maximum value of the normal stress applied in landfills. Finally, comparisons with a few published test results were presented and some design implications for the geosynthetic-installed landfills were discussed.     

Shear strength of landfill liner interface in the case of varying normal stress

Landfills are sequentially filled by solid waste lifts, thus normal stress on the liner interface changes in different shear stages, which may affect selection of interface strength in landfill slope stability analysis. Shear tests were conducted at the liner interfaces of geomembrane/geotextile (GM/GT) and geomembrane/geocomposite/sand (GM/GC/Sand), and the normal stress changed in different shear stages. Values of friction angles on both the GM/GT and GM/GC/Sand interfaces obtained by direct and simple shear tests under increasing normal stress in the hardening, softening, and large-displacement stages were lower than those obtained by the traditional direct shear test. The reduction was greater for peak friction angles. Since the peak liner interface strength obtained by staged loading is lower than the peak interface strength by using the traditional shear test method, using the peak shear strength obtained from the traditional direct shear test for the base floor liner to conduct slope stability analysis may cause an un-conservative result. It is necessary to consider the effects of normal stress changes on the liner interface strength in landfill slope stability analysis.     

大型斜面剪切仪的研制和试验

位于垃圾填埋场斜坡上的衬垫结构在垂直应力作用下沿斜坡滑移的剪切状态与底坡上衬垫结构的不同,为了模拟斜坡上衬垫结构间剪切特性,研制了斜面剪切仪。通过对标准砂和黏土的大型斜面和普通直剪剪切试验,发现两种试验得到的标准砂和黏土剪切应力位移特性基本相同,强度指标也相同。在此基础上,进行了光面HDPE土工膜与黏土复合衬垫界面斜面剪切试验,得到的剪应力与正应力比-位移曲线均有峰值和峰值后的软化现象。斜面剪切试验的特点是能够得到剪切面上法向应力和剪切应力同时增加的变化规律,可以揭示更详细的剪切特征,这有利于分析剪切过程中剪切面上法向应力和剪切应力的特性,如剪切面上法向应力和剪切应力变化规律以及剪切面上法向应力和剪切应力比的变化规律。     

Shear strength and failure mechanism of needle-punched geosynthetic clay liner

The internal shear strength of a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) within composite liner systems is crucial for the stability of landfills and should be carefully considered in the design. To explore the shear strength and failure mechanism of the extensively used needle-punched GCL, a series of displacement-controlled direct shear tests with five normal stress levels (250–1000 kPa) and eight displacement rates (1–200 mm/min) were conducted. The shear stress to horizontal displacement relationships exhibit well-defined peak shear strengths and significant post-peak strength reductions. The monitoring results of the thickness change indicate that the degree of volumetric contraction is related to the reorientation of fibers and dissipation of pore water pressure. Furthermore, the peak and residual shear strengths both depend on the displacement rate because of the rate-dependent tensile stiffness of needle-punched fibers and shear strength of the soil/geosynthetic interface. Through additional tests and lateral comparison, it was discovered that the shear behavior of sodium bentonite, degree of hydration, and pore water pressures all affect the shear mechanisms of the NP GCL. In particular, the failure mode transfers from fiber pullout to fiber rupture with the increase in water content as the hydrated bentonite particles facilitate the stretching of needle-punched fibers.     

我国四类衬垫系统防污性能的比较分析

对我国填埋场采用的四类衬垫进行了防污性能的比较分析。评价参数包括渗漏率、污染物击穿时间及衬垫系统底部浓度值。除了2m压实黏土衬垫(CCL)外,其余3种均为包含土工膜(GM)的复合衬垫。分析模型采用了污染物通过有缺陷膜复合衬垫的一维运移解析解。以镉离子(Cd2+)为渗滤液中重金属离子的代表;以苯为其中挥发性有机污染物的代表。研究表明土工复合膨润土垫(GCL)复合衬垫的渗漏率最小,2m黏土最大,两者的差别可在3～5个数量级。GCL复合衬垫对重金属离子具有较好的防污性能,尤其是在高水头及复合衬垫接触较差的情形。厚度较大的2m黏土对挥发性有机污染物的防污性能较好,其击穿时间要比GCL复合衬垫大2～3个数量级。随着水头的增大,CCL复合衬垫的防污性能逐渐地优于2m黏土。在10m水头作用下,CCL复合衬垫底部的100年浓度可比2m黏土小近一个量级。单层膜衬垫的防污性能较差,不适合作为填埋场的衬垫系统。控制填埋场复合衬垫的施工质量和渗滤液水头尤为重要。     

膨润土防水毯在渗滤液环境下防渗性能的测试应用研究

膨润土防水毯作为一种优异的防渗材料,国内暂无其在渗滤液环境下的渗透性能报道。本文拟配置性能组分稳定的代表性合成渗滤液作为实际渗滤液的替代试验介质,研究合成渗沥液对膨润土原料膨胀性能和滤失性能的影响,测试在合成渗滤液环境中,不同压力和温度条件下膨润土防水毯的渗透系数,以此为垃圾填埋工程和其他固废填埋工程使用膨润土防水毯作为防渗衬垫提供指导。     

垃圾填埋场多层复合衬垫的破坏面特征

多层土工合成材料复合衬垫的极限破坏面特性是垃圾填埋场稳定分析的重要问题,单一固定破坏面的观点已经被广泛接受。在多层土工合成材料复合衬垫的整体叠环式单剪试验后发现极限破坏界面并非单一固定,而是随着法向应力的变化发生由一个界面向另一界面转移,且在一定的法向应力范围内还可能同时出现两个具有相同剪切强度的极限破坏界面;多层土工合成材料复合衬垫中各层的剪切应力–位移曲线是硬化型的,衬垫系统的剪切强度总是低于极限破坏界面的剪切强度。试验结果表明,叠环式单剪仪能更正确和合理地模拟填埋场中的多层复合衬垫在加载过程中的实际剪切变形情况和复合衬垫中材料间的相互作用,从而能更好地揭示多层复合衬垫系统的整体剪切特性。     

某填埋场垃圾堆体边坡失稳过程监测与反分析

某填埋场是国内首批在场底铺设复合衬垫系统的大型卫生填埋场,该场垃圾坝前堆体边坡于2008年6月连续强降雨期间发生失稳事件。介绍该堆体边坡失稳过程的现场监测结果,包括坡面水平位移、深层侧向位移和渗滤液水位。基于监测数据,开展堆体边坡稳定性反分析工作,探讨复合衬垫系统界面抗剪强度取值方法,提出抽排竖井迫降水位、铺膜防渗等应急抢险措施。现场监测和理论分析结果表明:堆体边坡中高渗滤液水位是导致其失稳的关键因素,堆体边坡水平位移速率和渗滤液水位高度呈明显正相关关系;该堆体边坡失稳模式是沿场底复合衬垫系统中软弱界面的深层滑移;斜坡场底上复合衬垫系统在滑移过程中发生位移-软化效应,其界面强度介于峰值强度和残余强度之间;抽排竖井迫降水位是最直接、有效的应急抢险措施。     

Controlling strain in geosynthetic liner systems used in vertically expanded landfills

According to relevant new regulations in China,a composite liner system involving geosynthetic materials must be installed at the bottom of an expanded landfill.The deformation and integrity of the composite liner under a variety of factors are important issue to be considered in the design of a landfill expansion.In this paper,we investigate the strain distribution in geosynthetic materials within the composite liner system of expanded landfills,including strains in geosynthetic materials resulting from overall settlement and lateral movement of landfills,localized subsidence in landfills,and differential settlement around gas venting wells.The allowable strains of geosynthetic materials are discussed based on the results of tensile tests,and the corresponding design criteria for composite liner systems are proposed.Meanwhile,practical measures allowing strain control in geosynthetic materials used in landfill engineering are proposed.     

Assessment of consolidation-induced VOC transport for a GML/GCL/CCL composite liner system

In municipal solid waste landfills, a triple-layer composite liner consisting of a geomembrane liner (GML), a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) and a compacted clay liner (CCL) is commonly used at the landfill bottom to isolate the leachates from surrounding environment. This paper presents a numerical investigation of the effect of liner consolidation on the transport of a volatile organic compound (VOC), trichloroethylene (TCE), through the GML/GCL/CCL composite liner system. The numerical simulations were performed using the model CST3, which is a piecewise linear numerical model for coupled consolidation and solute transport in multi-layered soil media and has been extensively validated using analytical solutions, numerical solutions and experimental results. The performed numerical simulations considered coupled consolidation and contaminant transport with representative geometry, material properties, and applied stress conditions for a GML/GCL/CCL liner system. The simulation results indicate that, depending on conditions, consolidation of the GCL and CCL can have significant impact on the transport results of TCE (i.e., TCE mass flux, cumulative TCE mass outflow, and distribution of TCE concentration within the GCL and CCL), both during the consolidation process and long after the completion of consolidation. The traditional approach for the assessment of liner performance neglects consolidation of the GCL and CCL and fails to consider the consolidation-induced transient advection and concurrent changes in material properties and, therefore, can lead to significantly different results. These differences for with and without the consolidation effects can range over several orders of magnitude. The process of consolidation-induced contaminant transport is complex and involves many variables, and therefore case-specific analysis is necessary to assess the significance of liner consolidation on VOC transport through a GML/GCL/CCL composite liner system.     

Dynamic friction and the seismic performance of geosynthetic interfaces

The stability of geotechnical structures which contain geosynthetic interfaces is closely linked to the shear strength between the geosynthetics themselves, both in static and dynamic conditions. Static friction is the maximum interface shear strength mobilised before displacement, whereas dynamic friction is related to the kinematics of the displacement itself. In polymer materials, dynamic friction may be widely variable, depending on the type, geometry and integrity of the surfaces in contact, as well as on the intensity and time-history of the seismic signal. This means that predicting interface shear strength is not simple. This paper focuses on the evaluation of dynamic interface shear strength between geosynthetics, using the results of both inclined plane tests and shaking table tests; this latter test also provided a means to analyse interface behaviour under the conditions of real seismic records. To this purpose, two common geosynthetic interfaces, which exhibit different behaviour under dynamic loading, were tested. One interface was a smooth HDPE geomembrane in contact with a nonwoven polypropylene geotextile, while the second was a textured HDPE geomembrane in contact with a different type of nonwoven polypropylene geotextile.The test results shows that dynamic friction mobilised during seismic events depends on the relative speed according to the same law outlined by the free sliding tests and by the shaking table tests carried out with sinusoidal base motions. Moreover, for the two different types of studied interfaces dynamic friction may be greater, lesser or equal to the static friction and the assumption of a constant value of dynamic friction does not lead to an accurate prediction of the seismic displacements under various earthquakes.     

Numerical simulation of the flow in the interface of a composite bottom liner

This paper focuses on the quantification of flow rates at interfaces in composite liners using numerical simulations that explicitly take into account of the non-uniformity of the interface thickness. A new methodology is presented to obtain the accurate spatial distribution of interfaces in laboratory tests, in a 1-m-diameter device where flow was previously measured. The method is based on a multi-molding protocol, adopted from studies on fracture aperture measurements in rocks. The interface aperture data is been used to numerically simulate the flow in interfaces. Comparison of the numerical and experimental results shows that the simulated flow in the interface of a composite liner has similar hydrodynamic features to those observed. The analysis of fluid displacement in the interface shows that a flow channelling phenomena, caused by the existence of connected apertures linking the defect in the geomembrane to the boundary, is a key mechanism for leakage in composite liners consisting of a geomembrane and a compacted clay liner. The influence of the defect location vis-à-vis distribution of interface apertures on the flow rate is demonstrated.     

Analytical model for coupled consolidation and diffusion of organic contaminant transport in triple landfill liners

A triple-layer composite liner consisting of a geomembrane liner (GMB), a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) and a compacted clay liner (CCL) is commonly used at the landfill bottom liner system to isolate the contaminated leachates. In this paper, one-dimensional quasi-steady-state small deformation model (SDSS) was developed to investigate the behavior of organic chemicals transport in landfill composite liner system considering coupled effect of consolidation, diffusion and degradation. The first and second type bottom boundary conditions are used to derive the analytical solutions. The generalized integral transform technique (GITT) is adopted to derive the analytical solutions. The effect of consolidation on the performance of GMB/GCL/CCL with intact or leaking GMB is investigated. The triple liner under double drainage boundary condition (DDBC) has better performance compared to the case under single drainage boundary condition (SDBC). This is because the velocity induced by consolidation under DDBC is lower than that under SDBC. The effect of GCL consolidation shows an opposite trend compared to CCL consolidation. Considering GCL consolidation can increase the breakthrough time. The effective diffusion coefficient of GCL can be two magnitude orders smaller after consolidation, which provides a better diffusion barrier for the chemical transport. The effects of adsorption and degradation have been analyzed as well. Increasing the adsorption capacity of a deforming composite liner can increase the steady-state bottom flux, which shows the opposite tendency compared to the case without considering consolidation. This is due to the fact that for the case of a deforming composite liner, the advection induced by consolidation includes a new term due to the solid velocity. This velocity will result in the increase the mass of chemical migration through the composite liner.     

Shear strength of interfaces between unsaturated soils and composite geotextile with polyester yarn reinforcement

Composite geotextiles with polyester yarn reinforcement have been commonly used in combination with unsaturated soils. Both unsaturated and saturated shear strength of the interfaces were investigated between a composite geotextile and three major types of materials: silty sand (SM), low-plasticity silt (ML) and high-plasticity clay (CH) in a direct shear box. The interfaces were formed using two methods (A and B) to reflect the wide range of possible contact conditions in practice. Method A involved statically compacting the soil directly on top of the composite geotextile, while for Method B, the soil was statically compacted in a separate mold and later brought into contact with the composite geotextile. Type B interfaces required a larger displacement to mobilize the shear strength than Type A interfaces. The ultimate failure envelopes of SM and ML soils were similar to those of their interface shearing. Notably, the failure envelopes for the clay-geotextile interface of both types were higher than that of clay alone. The unsaturated soil-only shearing had a higher peak strength and tended to dilate more than saturated soil-only shearing, while unsaturated soil-interface shearing appeared to be more contractant than saturated interface shearing. The strength variations with suction for all tested soils and interface shearing were clearly non-linear. A new model that takes account of the condition of soil-geotextile contact intimacy is proposed for predicting the variation of interface strength with suction, based on the variation of the soil's apparent cohesion with suction and the geotextile-water retention curve.     

Failure mechanisms of geosynthetic clay liner and textured geomembrane composite systems

The objective of this study was to evaluate shear behavior and failure mechanisms of composite systems comprised of a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) and textured geomembrane (GMX). Internal and interface direct shear tests were performed at normal stresses ranging from 100 kPa to 2000 kPa on eight different GCL/GMX composite systems. These composite systems were selected to assess the effects of (i) GCL peel strength, (ii) geotextile type, (iii) geotextile mass per area, and (iv) GMX spike density. Three failure modes were observed for the composite systems: complete interface failure, partial interface/internal failure, and complete internal failure. Increasing normal stress transitioned the failure mode from complete interface to partial interface/internal to complete internal failure. The peak critical shear strength of GCL/GMX composite systems increased with an increase in GMX spike density. However, the effect of geotextile type and mass per area more profoundly influenced peak critical shear strength at normal stress > 500 kPa, whereby an increase in geotextile mass per area enhanced interlocking between a non-woven geotextile and GMX. Peel strength of a GCL only influenced the GCL/GMX critical shear strength when the failure mode was complete internal failure.     

Cyclic shear behavior of GMB/GCL composite liner

The composite liner system consisting of geomembrane (GMB) and geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) has been widely used in landfills. Although there have been a lot of studies on the monotonic shear behavior of GMB/GCL composite liner, the dynamic test data are still very limited and consequently, the dynamic shear mechanism is not clear. A series of displacement-controlled cyclic shear tests were conducted to study the shear behavior of GMB/GCL composite liner, including the shear stress versus horizontal displacement relationships, backbone curves, and shear strengths. Hysteretic loops in the shape of parallelogram were obtained and equivalent linear analyses revealed that the secant shear stiffness decreased and the damping ratio increased with the rise in loading cycles. According to the test results, it is generally acceptable to predict the dynamic peak strength of a GMB/GCL composite liner with its static strength envelope. Furthermore, the dynamic softening mechanism and rate-dependent shear stiffnesses were well described by the proposed equations, which also facilitate the accurate modeling of the cyclic shear behavior.