Simulation of the solid waste landfill settlement taking into account underlying soil

Abstract

As the closed landfills occupy 7 % of the territory of Ukraine, there is a question about the possibility of their use in future as a foundation for different constructions. The goal is to establish a dependency of the settlement of a closed landfill on the properties of the underlying soil and on the angle of inclination of a landfill. This will allow forecasting the possibility of using a polygon as a foundation for a variety of purposes. The mathematical simulation and the finite elements method were used. The mathematical simulation of the settlement of a landfill was carried out with consideration of geometric, physical and mechanical parameters of a landfill and its ground foundation. It was established that the ground foundation of a landfill considerably affected the value of the settlement. As a result of the studies it was found that with the decrease in the angle of inclination of the landfill's slope the settlement significantly decreased. Thus, by reducing the angle of inclination from 75° to 30°, the settlement decreased by 5-22 % depending on the type of the underlying soil. Also, the largest decline was observed for the least dense soil (sand). With a decrease in the angle, the difference between the settlement of landfills with different ground foundations decreases. The results obtained can be used for forecasting the settlement of a polygon with different geometric and physical-mechanical parameters for evaluation of the possibility of their further use as a foundation for structures with a variety of purposes.