Dynamic characterisation of municipal solid waste by SDMT

Abstract

As documented after some recent earthquakes, landfills can be damaged by seismic loading. Thus, to analyse their stability, site-specific dynamic soil properties must be evaluated, and representative dynamic properties of the waste material need to be used. Dilatometer Marchetti tests (DMTs) are used widely for measuring soil properties, but little is found in the literature regarding their use for measuring the properties of municipal solid waste (MSW). To validate their applicability when estimating the properties of MSW, the results of an investigation carried out on MSW materials at the Cozzo Vuturo landfill in the Enna area (Sicily, Italy) are discussed. Seismic DMTs (SDMTs) are performed, and the test results are used to derive the dynamic properties of the waste materials in the deposit. A comparison among SDMTs, multichannel analysis of surface waves and seismic refraction tomography is reported. These preliminary results seem to be promising. The S-wave velocity distribution deduced by SDMT appears to be in very good agreement with the state of the art reported by the literature. The measured S-wave distribution confirms reliability in estimating the zones of the landfill with different compaction due to the age of the waste.