Evaluation of shear strength parameters for municipal solid waste from open dumpsites using direct shear tests and electrical resistivity tomography

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Publication Details

Author list: Suknark, P.; Towprayoon, S.; Youwai, S.; Chiemchaisri, C.; Wangyao, K.

Publication year: 2025

Volume number: 27

Issue number: 6

Start page: 4699

End page: 4713

Number of pages: 15

ISSN: 14384957

URL: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105018477865&doi=10.1007%2Fs10163-025-02400-7&partnerID=40&md5=f98c3e708905096e6027527ac9de5c1b

Languages: English-Great Britain (EN-GB)

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Abstract

Increasing waste generation and disposal through open dumping is a significant issue in developing countries. The widespread open dumping method causes numerous environmental impacts and instability in waste dumps. This study aims to investigate the shear strength of waste in controlled open dumps, mainly focusing on waste samples aged less than 1 year, fresh waste, and dried fresh waste. Direct shear tests were used to explore the effect of waste characteristics on shear strength, and electrical resistivity tomography measurements were used to investigate the relationship between geophysical parameters and shear strength. The shear test results reveal that the waste’s cohesion values, and friction angles are 1.32–32.55 kPa and 6.61–65.41°, respectively. Additionally, the electrical resistivity of the waste ranges from 31.19 to 1,335.63 Ω-m. Furthermore, this study reveals that the shear strength of waste aged less than 1 year is lower than that of fresh waste. This decrease in shear strength is attributed to the relative increase in plastics, rubber, leather, fibrous materials, and fine fractions in older waste samples. The increase in resistivity corresponds to an increased cohesion and friction angle. Using a combination of nappies and fibrous materials with resistivity could improve the accuracy of the prediction model, indicating a strong correlation. Overall, the results demonstrate that moisture content and unit weight influence shear strength. In addition, the heterogeneous nature of waste dumps presents challenges in accurately measuring shear strength behavior which could be potentially addressed by the use of another geophysical techniques and statistical analysis in the future. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Japan KK, part of Springer Nature 2025.

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