Abstract
Tailings dam is a man-made hazard with high potential energy; dam failure would cause great losses to human lives and properties. However, the limitations of conventional reinforcement methods like geosynthetic make it easy to slide along the weak structural plane. In this paper, we innovatively added basalt fibre (BF) with different lengths (l) and contents (ω) into tailings to study its mechanical and permeation characteristics. The results indicate that BF can improve the shear strength (τ), cohesion (c) and compression index (Cc) of tailings, but it has little effect on internal friction angle (φ). When l is constant, τ, c and Cc are positively correlated with ω. One notable phenomenon is that τ and c do not constantly increase with l when ω is constant, but obtain the maximum under the optimal length of 6 mm. Moreover, when ω > 0.6%, permeability coefficient (k) is greater than that of the original tailings and the sensitivity of c, φ, τ, Cc, k to fibre content is greater than that of length. The research results facilitate the understanding of BF reinforced tailings, and could serve as references for improving the safety of tailings dam and other artificial soil slopes or soil structures.
Highlights
With the rapid development of the global economy, the consumption of resources becomes ever larger
By analysing the existing literature, fibre has the advantages of high strength, 3 corrosion resistance and good dispersion, we find that there are few reports on fibre reinforced tailings
The previous experiment results indicate that shear strength and cohesion of basalt fibre reinforced tailing (BFRT) are positively correlated with fibre content under the same length, the reason being that when there is no basalt fibre (BF) in tailings, reliance is mainly on the friction between tailings particles and matrix suction to resist shear failure
Summary
With the rapid development of the global economy, the consumption of resources becomes ever larger. Brumadinho tailings dam (in Brazil) collapsed in 2019 and caused 259 deaths and 11 missing [4]; in 2015, Fundao dam broke down and released 34 million m3 mud in short time, triggering the destruction of agricultural areas even native flora of the Atlantic Forest [5]; the Imperial Metals Mount Polley gold and copper mine tailings dam disaster in 2014 dumped 24 million m3 mine waste and sludge into a lake, causing serious environmental pollution [6] These painful lessons illustrate that tailings dam break may cause heavy casualties and property losses; it is crucial to improve the stability of the tailings dam and keep its safe operation. The aim is to explore the possibility of using BF reinforcement to improve the natural properties of tailings, so as to seek another proper method to enhance the safety of tailings dam
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