Research on Shear Strength and Permeability Characteristics of Basalt Fiber-Reinforced Tailings

Abstract

Tailings fiber-reinforcing technology can effectively improve the tailings’ property. In order to study the strength and permeability characteristics of basalt fiber-reinforced tailings, a tailings in Yunnan Province is taken as the research object, basalt fiber is reinforced material, The direct shear tests and permeability tests with different fiber lengths and fiber content to tailings by weight were carried out on basalt fiber-reinforced tailings The fiber length of 3mm, 9mm, 12mm and the fiber content percentage by weight to tailings of 0.6%, 0.9%, 1.2% was selected in the experiment. The results show that the basalt fiber can effectively improve the shear strength of the tailings. Under the same fiber length, the shear strength and cohesion of the fiber-reinforced tailings increase with the increase of fiber mass content. The cohesion increases with the fiber getting longer. When the fiber length is 9mm and the ratio to tailings by weight is 1.2%, the cohesion increased by 305.74%, which is maximum. Overall, the internal friction angle does not alter a lot. When the fiber is 12mm or fiber ratio to tailings by weight is 0.6%, the internal friction angle is always less than that of raw tailings regardless of fiber content and length. Permeability coefficient is always greater than that of raw tailings regardless of fiber length on the condition that fiber content is 1.2%. The 12mm long fiber-reinforced tailings’ permeability coefficient is always greater than that of 3mm long fiber-reinforced tailings.