Application of a critical state model to the Merriespruit tailings dam failure

Mánica, Miguel A.; Arroyo, Marcos; Gens, Antonio; Monforte, Lluís

doi:10.1680/jgeen.21.00001

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(49 reference statements)

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“…Mánica et al [11] extended the original CASM to model viscous behaviour, as an attempt to model creep, which Robertson et al [6] (Fig. 5)…”

Section: Clay and Sand Model (Casm)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting Brumadinho Dam Failure: A Methodology Study

Castro Sieira,

Benincá,

Bortolli

et al. 2024

EJENG

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This is a methodology testing study that uses the case history of Vale Mining’s Brumadinho Dam disaster and data from the Barcelona investigation report. This study aims to compare the results of two constitutive models for tailings: CASM and NorSand, running in the finite element program Plaxis 2D. The same senior authors carried out a previous study on four tailings dams and adopted the NorSand model and parameters obtained from piezocone and laboratory tests. Therefore, this paper aims to check if the same methodology would predict the Brumadinho Dam failure. The results show that both methods can predict Brumadinho failure, and the triggering mechanism suggested in the Barcelona report seems to be the cause of failure.

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“…Mánica et al [11] extended the original CASM to model viscous behaviour, as an attempt to model creep, which Robertson et al [6] (Fig. 5)…”

Section: Clay and Sand Model (Casm)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting Brumadinho Dam Failure: A Methodology Study

Castro Sieira,

Benincá,

Bortolli

et al. 2024

EJENG

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“…Within the framework of large-strain elastoplasticity, the constitutive model employed is a version (Mánica et al, 2022) of the isotropic, critical state-based model CASM (Yu, 1998), already implemented in G-PFEM code (details are given in Boschi et al, 2024).…”

Section: Constitutive Lawmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the process, which allows calculating the undrained shear strength from net tip resistance 𝑞 #$" passes through the use of a transformation cone factor 𝑁 !" (Lunne et al, 1997;Mayne et al, 2018). According to the literature (Low et al, 2010), the latter ranges between 8.6 and 15.3 for organic clays.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

G-PFEM-aided Derivation of Undrained Shear Strength of Organic Clays from CPT Data

Halleux,

Boschi,

Flessati

et al. 2024

7th International Conference on Geotechnical and Geophysical Site Characterization

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Accurate evaluation of undrained shear strength of soils is crucial in geotechnical design and assessment. In the practice, undrained shear strength is obtained most frequently from CPT data, dividing the net cone tip resistance by a cone factor, 𝑁 !" . For organic soils, values between 8.6 and 15.3 are reported, depending on the stress history. The cone factor can be conditioned to the results of laboratory tests, although uncertainties remain on the variety of stress paths followed by the soil elements around the tip of the cone, compared to the ones tested in the laboratory. Non-uniqueness in the definition of the cone factor may lead to either unsafe or over-conservative choices, partly undermining both the reliability and the sustainability of the design. This contribution analyses numerically the inversion technique used to determine the undrained shear strength of organic clays, exploiting data from an extensive in situ and laboratory investigation. The adopted constitutive model was calibrated on the results of laboratory tests. Cone penetration tests were simulated performing coupled hydro-mechanical numerical analyses via G-PFEM, developed in the last decade at CIMNE-UPC. The role played by initial stress state and previous stress history upon stress distribution at failure, cone factor and sleeve friction is discussed. The numerical results suggest how the sleeve friction could be used to condition the cone factor depending on the over-consolidation ratio and demonstrate how combining the different available CPT readings with the aid of numerical results may reduce the uncertainty in the estimation of undrained shear strength.

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“…This comparison is unaffected by partial drainage or sleeve friction values. It is also worth men tioning that although material A is brittle, CASM has been fitted to represent even more brittleness when back-analyzing liquefaction failures Mánica et al 2021). Despite that Olson & Stark (2002) upper bound might still be somewhat conservative.…”

Section: Case-history Based Correlationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Undrained strength from CPTu in brittle soils: A numerical perspective

Monforte¹,

Arroyo²,

Gens³

2022

Cone Penetration Testing 2022

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Static liquefaction of soils that have a brittle undrained response (hydraulic fills, mine tailings or sensitive clays) may lead to sudden failures of large consequence. Given the importance of undrained failure, obtaining precise estimates of peak and residual yield strength is important. The CPTu plays a major role in the geotechnical characterization of these geomaterials and so do CPTu-based estimates of undrained strength. Most of the methods available for CPTu-based estimation of undrained strength are empirical, based on correlation with other laboratory or field tests. When such correlations are established difficulties appear due to variable disturbance affecting the reference laboratory samples and parasitic effects, such as unaccounted for partial drainage during penetration or unknown side friction, affecting the cone results. Such difficulties are not present when using numerical simulation. The paper builds upon a series of CPTu simulations using a model able to represent brittle undrained failure. Confounding factors such as partial drainage and cone side friction are sys tematically varied to examine their effect on the results. The results are then employed to examine the perform ance of several empirical methods frequently employed to obtain peak and residual strength from CPTu.

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Application of a critical state model to the Merriespruit tailings dam failure

Cited by 15 publications

References 49 publications

Revisiting Brumadinho Dam Failure: A Methodology Study

Revisiting Brumadinho Dam Failure: A Methodology Study

G-PFEM-aided Derivation of Undrained Shear Strength of Organic Clays from CPT Data

Undrained strength from CPTu in brittle soils: A numerical perspective

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