The Effect of Grain Size on the Hydrodynamics of Mudflow Surge from a Tailings Dam-Break

Abstract

Due to the differences in mineral processing techniques, the grain-size of tailings used in the construction of a tailings pond is not commensurate. It has been determined that the hydrodynamic characteristics of mudflow resulting from the failure of tailings dams are directly influenced by grain-size, solids concentration, and the surface roughness of gully and impoundment geometry. However, the behavior and influence of the grain size of mudflow resulting from a tailings dam failure have not been sufficiently examined. To investigate the effect of grain size on the hydrodynamic characteristics of mudflow surging from tailings dam failure, the law of mudflow evolution, the change of dynamics pressure, and the velocity distributions of mudflow have been obtained via a series of flume experiments utilizing three types of grain size tailings (d50 = 0.72 mm; d50 = 0.26 mm; d50 = 0.08 mm, respectively). This study proves conclusively that with an increase in grain size, the peak value of mudflow depth notably decreases in the same section. Furthermore, it has been noted that both the velocity and the dynamic pressure raise significantly, wherein the velocity displays two distinct primary stages; namely a rapid reduction stage and a slow reduction stage. This research provides a framework for the exploration of the effect of grain size on the hydrodynamics of slurry surging from a tailings dam failure, and all presented results provide an indispensable tool in terms of the accurate assessment of potential damage in the case of a prospective impoundment failure.

Study on Hydraulic Incipient Motion Model of Reinforced Tailings

“…(7) A high-resolution camera (1920 × 1080/50 frames) is used as the observation system to record the sample start-up, erosion height change, and erosion time in real time. (8) The overflow tank can keep the water level constant during the test. (9) The electromagnetic flowmeter is used as the water flow monitoring equipment; the flow rate range is 1.19-119 m 3 /h and the measurement accuracy is 0.01 m 3 /h, and the data can be read directly through the electronic display screen.…”

“…Wang et al [6] and Zhang et al [7] discussed the dam displacement, phreatic line, dam break mode, and development law of dam break through the flood overtopping dam break test of a tailings reservoir. The reasons for dam break and the evolution of dam body failure of a tailings pond under different rainfall conditions are studied in Jing et al [8,9]. The causes of dam failure caused by flood overflow of tailings pond are analyzed.…”

Numerical Analysis of Sand Bed Degrading and Sediment Transport Rate Under Tailings Dam Break

“…In terms of model tests, Souza Jr and Teixeira used a physical model to study the volume of tailings released by ponds containing different tailing materials and for various breach shapes (Souza and Teixeira, 2019). Jing et al pointed out that the hydrodynamic characteristics of the debris flow caused by tailings dam failures were affected by the particle size, bulk density, geometry of the reservoir, and the surface roughness (Jing et al, 2019). Based on the principle of similarity, Wu and Qin built a physical model of the Vadogo tailings pond and studied the optimization of the tailings dam maintenance and protection, to reduce the scale of the dam break, the discharged flow rate and flow velocity, and the downstream inundation area, thereby mitigating the destructive impact of dam break events (Wu and Qin, 2018).…”

Modeling the Slump-Type Landslide Tsunamis Part I: Developing a Three-Dimensional Bingham-Type Landslide Model

“…Similar to the slump-type landslide tsunami, the tailings are considered a fine material by Jing [8], Zhang [9], and Qiao [10]. Numerically, the slumps and tailings fluid can be considered a viscoplastic material with the yield stress, which is one of the important parameters.…”