Influence of Curing under Stress on the Geomechanical Response of Cemented Iron Ore Mining Tailings Subjected to Distinct Effective Stress Paths
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24, Issue 8
Abstract
The mining sector plays a significant role in the economic development of countries by contributing to their gross domestic product. Once the demand for commercialized ore grows, the mining industry looks for new technologies to boost exploration and manage residue disposal. One promising technique to dispose of these residues is dry stacking. This research investigates the behavior of cemented iron ore tailings (IOTs) that use unconfined compression strength (UCS) and triaxial testing. The UCS tests investigated different dosages of cement–tailings compacted blends. In addition, nine triaxial tests were carried out, where six were cured under atmospheric pressure, and three were cured under 300 kPa. Samples were sheared under mean effective stresses of 300 and 3,000 kPa. Both curing conditions were subjected to drained axial loading, constant mean effective stress (p′), and lateral unloading stress paths. The results indicate that the porosity/cement index (η/Civ) could control the mixtures’ UCS. The triaxial tests revealed the effective strength parameters stress dependence. Samples that were consolidated under high stress might experience bond breakage, which leads to a decrease in the friction angle and a tendency toward critical state conditions. No meaningful variation was observed between samples that were cured under stress and atmospheric pressure.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Brazilian Research Council CNPq for supporting the research group (Grant Nos. 307289/2018-4, 402572/2021-1, and 200164/2022-8) and the Fulbright Program for the doctoral research awards.
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
- Civ
- volumetric cement content (expressed in relation to the total specimen volume);
- c′
- cohesive intercept;
- d
- diameter;
- e
- void ratio;
- h
- height;
- M
- critical state stress ratio (q/p′);
- p′
- mean effective stress;
- q
- deviatoric stress;
- qu
- unconfined compressive strength;
- R2
- coefficient of determination;
- γd
- dry unit weight;
- η
- porosity;
- η/Civ
- porosity/cement index;
- ν
- specific volume = 1 + e;
- ϕ′
- effective frictional angle; and
- effective critical state frictional angle.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24 • Issue 8 • August 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 5, 2023
Accepted: Feb 12, 2024
Published online: May 31, 2024
Published in print: Aug 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Oct 31, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Cement
- Concrete
- Curing
- Effective stress
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Environmental engineering
- Iron (material)
- Laboratory tests
- Lateral stress
- Materials engineering
- Materials processing
- Metals (material)
- Mine wastes
- Pollutants
- Stress (by type)
- Structural analysis
- Structural engineering
- Tests (by type)
- Triaxial tests
- Wastes
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