A class of inhomogeneous shear models for seismic analysis of landfills

An analytical/numerical procedure is developed to calculate the shear elasto-plastic earthquake response of hill-shaped landfills. Landfill response is evaluated on the basis of newly developed one-dimensional inhomogeneous shear beam models. In these models, the nonhomogeneity of landfill materials is taken into account by assuming a specific variation of stiffness properties along the depth. Closed-form analytical expressions are derived for natural frequencies, modal displacements, modal participation factors, absolute accelerations and maximum shear strains. Parametric results are presented in graphical and tabular form and conclusions are drawn. Within a numerical implementation framework of the above formulation, the landfill materials may be modeled by an elasto-plastic hysteretic model following the principles of flow or incremental plasticity. The entire numerical procedure may be executed on a personal computer and consequently qualifies as a versatile tool for conducting preliminary design calculations or parametric-type investigations. Using this newly developed procedure, the seismic response of the Fresh Kills landfill in New York City is investigated.