Development of an apparatus for physical modeling of tailings dams: preliminary tests
Development of an apparatus for physical modeling of tailings dams: preliminary tests
Recent environmental disasters resulting from mine tailings dam failures, with significant loss of life and widespread impact, have prompted public response and more stringent regulatory measures. These structures, mostly composed of sand and silt particles with high water content and low density, can be susceptible to liquefaction. The use of physical models in geotechnical engineering has proven to be crucial, allowing controlled simulations of complex systems and providing essential insight into the understanding of dam stability. This paper presents the development of a test apparatus for the evaluation of scaled models of iron ore tailings dams. This allows different types of tailings structures to be simulated and can be used as benchmark for numerical analysis. Preliminary tests are presented to validate the capabilities of the apparatus. The methodology includes characterization of geotechnical parameters, flow analysis, and stability assessment. The paper presents the results of preliminary tests aiming to a better understanding of the geotechnical behavior of tailings, which is essential for improving dam design, construction and management practices to reduce the risks associated with environmental disasters.
Antonio Hilario Da Rocha Junior; MARCIO ALMEIDA; Leonardo De Bona Becker; Maria Cascao Ferreira de Almeida; Jose Renato Oliveira; Willian Filho; Felipe Guerra
5th European Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ECPMG2024)
New facilities, new equipment, measuring techniques
https://doi.org/10.53243/ECPMG2024-82
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