Numerical modelling of geotextile tubes filled with gold mine tailings

Abstract

Geotextile tubes are generally used in hydraulic and marine applications such as coastal protection and flood control. They are also used to dewater sludge from sewage treatment plants and dredged materials. Studies have been carried out to derive analytical solutions and develop empirical models as well as numerical simulations to represent the behaviour of geotextile tubes in such applications. However, there has been insufficient attention on dewatering of mining tailings. This article presents the numerical results of modelling a geotextile tube using Abaqus, a commercially available finite element software package. The mechanical behaviour of the tube was simulated while it was being filled with gold mining tailings. Back analyses of a large-scale field test as well as parametric analyses were performed to evaluate the influence of filling pressure, elastic modulus and finite element type on the stress–strain behaviour of the geotextile tube. In terms of validation, the numerical results agreed well with the analytical results and field test observations. A smaller elastic modulus causes greater strain. Comparing the results obtained using different types of finite elements, it was observed that the membrane element used to simulate the geotextile tube represented its mechanical behaviour well.