Relevance of centrifuge modeling technique for studying the performance of waste containment systems

Proper containment system is essential to encapsulate municipal solid waste or low level radioactive waste disposal systems safely. This paper presents the relevance of centrifuge modeling technique for studying the performance of waste containment systems of landfills and low-level radio active waste disposal units. A geotechnical centrifuge can induce centripetal accelerations, which are many times greater than the earth's gravitational acceleration on a small scale model, so as to make the identical stress-strain behaviour of the soil in model and prototype. The centrifuge modeling technique can be used to study the response of waste containment systems in the centrifuge because the deformation and the loss of integrity of the waste containment system are highly influenced by the presence of prototype stress conditions. Considering the difficulties involved in performing full-scale tests, the application of this technique to the present context of study is regarded to be more relevant. This paper presents the salient aspects of India's large beam centrifuge facility along with details of differential settlement simulators for inducing continuous differential settlement failure to waste containment systems.