Geomechanics and Engineering

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An experimental study on tailings deposition characteristics and variation of tailings dam saturation line

  • Wang, Guangjin (Engineering Research Center for Green Comprehensive Utilization of Metal Ore Tailings Resources, Faculty of Land Resources Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology) ;
  • Tian, Sen (Engineering Research Center for Green Comprehensive Utilization of Metal Ore Tailings Resources, Faculty of Land Resources Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology) ;
  • Hu, Bin (Hubei Key Laboratory for Efficient Utilization and Agglomeration of Metallurgic Mineral Resources, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology) ;
  • Kong, Xiangyun (Engineering Research Center for Green Comprehensive Utilization of Metal Ore Tailings Resources, Faculty of Land Resources Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology) ;
  • Chen, Jie (State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, School of Resources and Safety Engineering, Chongqing University)
  • Received : 2020.03.16
  • Accepted : 2020.09.10
  • Published : 2020.10.10
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Abstract

This study adopted soil test and laboratory physical model experiments to simulate the tailings impoundment accumulation process according to the principle of similarity. Relying on the practical engineering, it analyzed the tailings deposition characteristics on dry beach surface during the damming process, as well as the variation rules of dam saturation line. Results suggested that, the tailings particles gradually became finer along the dry beach surface to inside the impoundment. The particle size suddenly changed at the junction between the deposited beach and the water surface, which displayed an obvious coarsening phenomenon. Besides, the deposited beach exhibited the vertical feature of coarse upward and fine downward on the whole. Additionally, in the physical model, the saturation line elevated with the increase in dam height, and its amplitude was relatively obvious within the range of 1.0-4.5 m away from the initial dam. Under flood condition, the saturation line height was higher than that under normal condition on the whole, with the maximum height difference of 4 cm. This study could provide an important theoretical basis for further studies on dam failure experiments and the evolution rules of leaked tailings flow.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The research described in this paper was financially supported by the National key research and development plan [grant number 2017YFC0804600]; the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers U1802243; 51904040; 41672317]; the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [grant number 2020CDJQY-A045; 2020CDJ-LHZZ-003]; the Open issue with "the key laboratory of mine geological hazards mechanism and Hubei province technical innovation special (Major projects)" [grant number 2017ACA184]; the General Program of Chongqing Natural Science Foundation Project [grant number cstc2020jcyjmsxmX0747]; and the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University [grant number IRT_17R112]. The authors would like to acknowledge the colleagues from the State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control for their perspectives and suggestions related to data collection and statistical analysis.

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