Abstract
A portion of the accumulated tailings in a tailings pond exhibits an unsaturated state. The mechanical properties of unsaturated tailings affect the safety and stability of tailings dams. To investigate the effect of moisture content on the deformation characteristics of unsaturated tailings in the mesoscale, a special testing apparatus is applied to experimentally study the settlement deformation and mesostructure evolution of unsaturated tailings under continuous load. The results show that the mesostructure deformation of unsaturated tailings with different moisture contents under load is the same and can be divided into four stages: pore compression, elastic deformation, structure change, and further compaction. However, the critical pressures of the four stages are significantly different; there is an optimal moisture content corresponding to the maximum deformation resistance. Moreover, the influence of the liquid bridge regime on the mesostructure deformation of unsaturated tailings is discussed in this paper.
Highlights
Tailings are granular solid waste generated from the production activities of metal and nonmetal mines, which are generally stored by constructing tailings dams to form tailings ponds [1,2]
We considered the studies regarding mesomechanics of granular material [40] and used a special testing apparatus to experimentally study the mesostructure deformation characteristics of tailings with different moisture contents
Considering the curve corresponding to 15% moisture content, the pressure–displacement curve can be broadly divided into four stages: 7. Pressure−displacement curves of tailings specimens with different under con-load
Summary
Tailings are granular solid waste generated from the production activities of metal and nonmetal mines, which are generally stored by constructing tailings dams to form tailings ponds [1,2]. Approximately 10 million cubic meters of tailings–water mixtures flowed into the surrounding streams and rivers, causing serious ecological and environmental damage [8,9]. China has more than 12,000 tailings ponds, of which approximately 95% are constructed using upstream methods [11]. In this method, tailings slurry, a mixture of solid tailings and tail water, is discharged into a reservoir from the crest of the dam, which forms a deposited beach with a certain slope under the action of gravity. The part of the deposited beach near the crest of the dam is called the dry beach, which is not covered by tail water and becomes the foundation of the embankment in the stage.
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