Simulation of geomembrane response to settlement in landfills by using thematerial point method

Because of the multiple layers of dissimilar materials and large deformatio ns involved in the subsidence of a landfill system, large-scale computer si mulation of the geomechanical response to subsidence with the use of conven tional numerical methods are problematic. The Material Point (MPM),(1,2) wh ich was recently developed for dynamic problems such as penetration and per foration, is a newly emerging numerical method. The MPM is modified in this paper to simulate the geomechanical response of a landfill cover system th at includes a geomembrane under quasi-static loading conditions. Sample pro blems, for which an analytical solution is available with certain assumptio ns, are considered to demonstrate the proposed solution procedure. Future w ork is discussed based on current research results. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.