Model Test And Numerical Analysis Of Fine Grained Tailings Dam

The dam with fine grained tailings is always an important research focus in the case of the upstream method of construction. The static and dynamical stability of the fine tailings dams is inferior to that of the common tailings dams due to their differences in the grain composition and the physical properties. Disasters resulting from tailings dam failures have been often reported at mines from home and abroad. Thus the improvement of the safety of the dam with fine grained tailings, further raising the height of the dam, and the extension of service life for the dam are attracting attention all along.The paper dealt mainly with laboratory tests, numerical simulation and case study on the basis of the reinforcement mechanisms of the geo-synthetics to investigate the interaction between geo-synthetics and fine tailings from the Longdu tailings pool at Dahongshan Copper mine, Yunnan province, aiming to provide a guide to the application of geo-synthetics to fine tailings dams. Undoubtedly, the use of reinforcement technology in fine tailings dams will enlarge the application field and be of theoretically and practically significance.Three types of geo-synthetics including geo-textiles, geo-grids and geo-nets were used to model physically the reinforcement effect of geo-synthetics on the stability of the model dam of Longdu tailings pool. The experimental results show that the application of geo-synthetics in the tailings slope can integrate them to withstand the internal and external loads, improve the strength of fine tailings dam effectively, decrease the dam's asymmetrical subsidence and reinforce the stability of the dam body as a whole. In addition, it is found through tests that the gradient of the slope has an apparent influence on the performance of the dam. Finally, the comparison of the reinforcement effects of the different reinforcement materials may help dam operators to select the most appropriate one for the engineering purpose.The numerical simulations under conditions of reinforcement and without were performed using FLAC3.30, attaining the distribution of stress, strain and the displacement of dam's body at certain heights. The simulation results verify further the fact that the geo-synthetics can reinforce the fine grained dam well.