Dynamic Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste by In Situ and Laboratory Tests

A comprehensive testing program was completed on municipal solid waste (MSW) at the Cozzo Vuturo landfill, located in the periphery of Enna (Sicily, Italy) to evaluate the representative dynamic waste material properties. The small strain shear modulus, the strain-dependent normalized shear modulus reduction, and the material damping relationships of MSW were investigated using field and laboratory tests. The seismic dilatomer Marchetti test (SDMT) was used to derive the shear wave velocity profiles and the dynamic properties of the deposited waste materials. Measurements of wave velocities were also completed using a seismic refraction tomography and a multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) to estimate the vertical distribution of the compression wave velocity (VP) and shear wave velocity (VS), respectively. The dynamic properties of MSW were also investigated using combined resonant column, torsional shear (RCTS) and cyclic triaxial devices (CTX). In this paper a comparison between SDMT, MASW, and laboratory test results is reported. A good agreement has been found between the dynamic properties of the waste materials derived by the in situ and laboratory tests completed in this study and those reported in the literature. (C) 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.