Experimental Investigation of Propagation and Transmission of Compressional Stress Waves in Cemented Paste Backfill
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 3
Abstract
A split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) was used to characterize the propagation of high intensity large strain compressional waves through cemented paste backfill (CPB). The effects of curing age, cement content, and degree of saturation on stress refraction at interfaces, velocity of propagation, and internal damping in CPB were investigated. The results show that a smaller portion of the incident stress wave is refracted at the CPB interface in unsaturated specimens in comparison to those in a near fully saturated condition. Increased refraction ratios and velocities of propagation as a result of increased curing age and cement content were mainly observed in unsaturated specimens. In addition, the effects of degree of saturation on stress wave propagation in unsaturated material seemed negligible. The compression wave propagation velocity in the SHPB was also compared with small strain velocities found by means of ultrasonic wave measurements. The measured small strain wave velocities were found to be consistently smaller than the large strain velocities found in the SHPB. Similarly, the small strain elastic theory was found to underpredict the transmission ratios at CPB interfaces. Thus, it was proposed to account for correction factors by accounting for the changes in density and constrained modulus under high amplitude and short duration compressive waves. The coefficient of attenuation remained practically unchanged at different curing ages and was shown to significantly decrease near saturation.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge funding provided by ARC Linkage Project (LP100200173). The first author also wishes to thank both Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica de Chile (CONICYT PAI/INDUSTRIA 79090016) and the Australian International Postgraduate Research Scholarships (IPRS) for their support during completion of postgraduate studies.
References
Albert, D. G. (1993). “A comparison between wave propagation in water-saturated and air-saturated porous material.” J. Appl. Phys., 73(1), 28–36.
Alviña, N. T. (2008). “Análisis numérico del comportamiento dinámico de túneles ante eventos sísmicos, caso de estallidos de roca en el Teniente.” Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Aref, K. (1989). “A study of the geotechnical characteristics and liquefaction potential of paste.” McGill Univ., Montréal.
Barrière, J., Bordes, C., Brito, D., Sénéchal, P., and Perroud, H. (2012). “Laboratory monitoring of P-waves in partially saturated sand.” Geophys. J. Int., 191(3), 1152–1170.
Benzaazoua, M., and Belem, T. (2000). “Optimization of sulfurous paste backfill mixtures for increased long-term strength and durability.” Waste Treat. Environ. Impact Min. Ind., 1(1), 343–352.
Benzaazoua, M., Fall, M., and Belem, T. (2004). “A contribution to understanding the hardening process of cemented pastefill.” Miner. Eng., 17(2), 141–152.
Biot, M. A. (1956). “Theory of propagation of elastic waves in a fluid-saturated porous solid.” J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 28(2), 168–178.
Bragov, A. M., Lomunov, A. K., Sergeichev, I. V., Proud, W., Tsembeleis, K., and Church, P. (2005). “A method for determining the main mechanics properties of soft soils at high strain rates (– ) and load amplitudes up to several gigapascals.” Phys. Lett., 31(6), 530–531.
Chan, C. M. (2010). “Bender element test soil specimen: Identifying the shear wave arrival time.” Electron. J. Geotech. Eng., 15(1), 1263–1276.
Charlie, W. A., Ross, C. A., and Pierce, S. J. (1990). “Split-Hopkinson pressure bar testing of unsaturated sand.” Geotech. Test. J., 13(4), 291–300.
Chen, W., and Song, B. (2001). Split Hopkinson (Kolsky) bar, Springer, New York.
Chiang, Y. C., and Chae, Y. S. (1972). “Dynamic properties of cemented treated soils.” Highway Res. Rec., 379(1), 39–51.
Emad, M. Z., Mitri, H., and Kelly, C. (2014). “Effect of blast-induced vibrations on fill failure in vertical block mining with delayed backfill.” Can. Geotech. J., 51(9), 975–983.
Fall, M., and Benzaazoua, M. (2005). “Modeling the effect of sulphate on strength development of paste backfill and binder mixture optimization.” Cem. Concr. Res., 35(2), 301–314.
Farr, J. V. (1990). “One-dimensional loading-rate effects.” J. Geotech. Eng., 119–135.
Fredlund, D. G., and Rahardjo, H. (1993). Soil mechanics for unsaturated soils, Wiley, New York.
Galaa, A. M., Thompson, B. D., Grabinsky, M. W., and Bawden, W. F. (2011). “Characterizing stiffness development in hydrating mine backfill using ultrasonic wave measurements.” Can. Geotech. J., 48(8), 1174–1187.
Gaviglio, P. (1989). “Longitudinal waves propagation in a limestone: The relationship between velocity and density.” Rock Mech. Rock Eng., 22(4), 299–306.
Hasan, A., Suazo, G., and Fourie, A. (2013). “Full scale experiments on the effectiveness of a drainage system for cemented paste backfill.” 16th Int. Seminar on Paste and Thickened Tailings: Paste 2013, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, Australia, 379–392.
Helinski, M. (2007). “Mechanics of mine backfill.” Univ. of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia.
Jackson, J. G. Jr., Ehrgott, J. Q., and Rohani, B. (1980). “Loading rate effects on compressibility of sand.” J. Geotech. Eng., 106(8), 839–852.
Kesimal, A., Yilmaz, E., and Ercikdi, B. (2004). “Evaluation of past backfill mixtures consisting of sulphide-rich mill tailings and varying cement contents.” Cem. Concr. Res., 34(10), 1817–1822.
Kokusho, T. (2000). “Correlation of pore-pressure B-value with P-wave velocity and Poisson’s ratio for imperfectly saturated sand and gravel.” Soils Found., 40(4), 95–102.
Kolsky, H. (1949). “An investigation of the mechanical properties of materials at very high rates of loading.” Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, Butterwick Research Laboratories, Welwyn, U.K., 676–700.
Kolsky, H. (1963). Stress waves in solids, Dover, New York.
Lu, H., Luo, H., and Komoduri, R. (2009). “Dynamic compressive response of sand under confinements.” Proc., SEM Annual Conf., Society for Experimental Mechanics, Albuquerque, NM, 1–7.
Madhusudhan, B. N., and Kumar, J. (2013). “Damping of sands for varying saturation.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 1625–1630.
Pajak, M. (2011). “The influence of the strain rate on the strength of concrete taking into account the experimental techniques.” Architecture Civ. Eng. Environ., 3(1), 77–86.
Perino, A. (2011). “Wave propagation through discontinuous media in rock engineering.” Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy.
Persson, P.-A., Holmberg, R., and Lee, J. (1994). Rock blasting and explosives engineering, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
Pierce, S. J., and Charlie, W. A. (1989). “High intensity compressive stress wave propagation.” Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO.
Prasad, M., Zimmer, M. A., Berge, P. A., and Bonner, B. P. (2004). “Laboratory measurements of velocity and attenuation in sediments - UCRL-JRNL-205155.” Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Tulsa, OK.
Richart, F., Hall, J. R., and Woods, R. D. (1970). Vibrations of soils and foundations, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Ross, A. C., Nash, P. T., and Friesenhahn, G. J. (1986). “Pressure waves in soils using a split-Hopkinson pressure bar.” Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio.
Ross, C. A., Thompson, P. Y., Charlie, W. A., and Doehring, D. O. (1989). “Transmission of pressure waves in partially saturated.” J. Exp. Mech. Soc. Exp., 29(1), 80–83.
Saebimoghaddam, A. (2010). “Liquefaction of early age cemented paste backfill.” Univ. of Toronto, Toronto.
Saxena, S. K., Anestis, A. S., and Krishna, R. R. (1988). “Dynamic moduli and damping ratios for cemented sands at low strains.” Can. Geotech. J., 25(2), 353–368.
Semblat, J. F., Luong, M. P., and Gary, G. (1999). “3D-Hopkinson bar: New experiments for dynamic testing on soils.” Soils Found., 39(1), 1–10.
Song, B., Chen, W., and Luk, V. (2009). “Impact compressive response of dry sand.” Mech. Mater., 41(6), 777–785.
Suazo, G., Fourie, A., and Doherty, J. (2016). “Experimental study of the evolution of the soil water retention curve for granular material undergoing cement hydration.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 04016022.
Tisato, N., and Marelli, S. (2013). “Laboratory measurements of the longitudinal and transverse wave velocities of compacted bontonite as a function of water content, temperature, and confining pressure.” J. Geophys. Res., 118(7), 3380–3393.
van Gool, B. E. (2007). “Effects of blasting on the stability of paste fill stopes at Cannington Mine.” James Cook Univ., Townsville, QLD, Australia.
Veyera, G. (1994). “Uniaxial stress-strain behavior of unsaturated soils at high strain rates.” Wright Laboratory Flight Dynamics Directorate, OH.
Villaescusa, E., and Kuganathan, K. (1998). “Backfill for bench stoping operations.” Proc., 6th Int. Conf. on Mining with Backfill, AusIMM, Brisbane, Australia.
Winkler, K., and Nur, A. (1979). “Pore fluids and seismic attenuation in rocks.” Geophys. Res. Lett., 6(1), 1–4.
Wu, S., Chen, X., and Zhou, J. (2012). “Influence of strain rate and water content on mechanical behavior of dam concrete.” Constr. Build. Mater., 36, 448–457.
Zhang, Q. B., and Zhao, J. (2014). “A review of dynamic experimental techniques and mechanical behaviour of rock materials.” Rock Mech. Rock Eng., 47(4), 1411–1478.
Zhu, J., Kee, S.-H., Han, D., and Tsai, Y.-T. (2011). “Effects of air voids on ultrasonic wave propagation in early age cement pastes.” Cem. Concr. Res., 41(8), 872–881.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 3 • March 2017
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 17, 2015
Accepted: Jun 22, 2016
Published online: Sep 21, 2016
Discussion open until: Feb 21, 2017
Published in print: Mar 1, 2017
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.