Numerical investigation of the effect of tamper weight and drop height on dynamic compaction of landfills

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Civil Engineering, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of Civil Engineering, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Department of Civil Engineering, Mehr-Aeen Higher Education Institute, Bandar Anzali, Iran.

10.22060/ajce.2026.25199.5972

Abstract

The dynamic compaction method for soil improvement was introduced by Louis Menard in 1970. Numerical studies on dynamic compaction have predominantly been conducted on dry granular soils, with less consideration given to its application in municipal solid waste compaction. The present study aims to numerically investigate the effect of tamper weight and drop height on the dynamic compaction of landfills. This was done using the finite element software Abaqus 6.14-2 in two time steps, geostatic and explicit dynamic, using the coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian approach. The study results demonstrate that increasing the drop height of a tamper with a weight of 5t from 5m to 30 m increases the depth of the cavity created in the soil from 12.6cm to 50cm, increases the stress developed in the soil from 747kg/m² to 4111kg/m², and increases the plastic strain from 0.16 to 1.3. Moreover, increasing the drop height for a tamper weight of 30 t from 5m to 30m increases the crater depth in the soil from 50cm to 2.73m, increases the soil stress from 4111kg/m² to 27176.5kg/m², and increases the plastic strain in the soil from 1.3 to 12.27. It can thus be summarized that although both the weight and the drop height of the tamper are effective in the momentum, the applied stresses, the crater depth, and the plastic strain of the landfill, the use of heavy tampers, which require high-capacity cranes, is not recommended for dynamic compaction in landfill improvement due to limitations in their use and increased project implementation costs.

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AUT Journal of Civil Engineering

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 14 March 2026

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