DEM investigation of microscopic parameters influence on the sandy tailings mechanical behavior

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4. DEM investigation of microscopic parameters influence on the sandy tailings mechanical behavior

A two-dimensional Particle Flow Code (PFC2D) was applied to investigate the influence of microscopic parameters such as coordination number, contact forces and fabric on the mechanical behaviour of mining sand tailings. Some drained biaxial compression tests were simulated under the same conditions as the physical drained triaxial experiments. These tests comprised samples sheared at a relative density of 60-65%, which represents the compaction conditions of the tailings after the spread and passage of equipment. In order to represent the effect of the irregularities in the shape of the tailings grains, the rolling resistance was used in the discrete element method (DEM) simulations. In this regard, the micro-mechanical properties of the numerical sample, such as the normal, shear and rolling resistance stiffness, and the rolling friction coefficient, were calibrated to reproduce the overall behaviour of the sand tailings observed in the laboratory tests. The results suggest that the microscopic physical properties such as contact forces, fabric, particle velocity and rotation play an important role in the macroscopic shear response of the sand tailings, especially for Critical State Line determination.

10th European Conference on Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering (NUMGE2023)

2. Finite element, finite difference, discrete element, material point and other methods