A Unified Approach for the Analysis of CPT Partial Drainage Effects within a Critical State Soil Mechanics Framework in Mine Tailings
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 6
Abstract
Results from both laboratory and in-situ cone penetration tests (CPTs) on predominantly sandy silt platinum tailings from an operational mine in South Africa are reported. The CPTs were conducted with four different cone diameters at varied penetration rates. With the results interpreted in terms of the normalized tip resistance and the initial state parameter, in addition to dissipation tests, it was possible to identify the CPTs affected by significant partial drainage effects. A review of the partial drainage concept enabled the formulation of a novel characteristic surface approach, which uses a unified continuous equation to estimate the state parameter from the CPT data from drained to partially drained and undrained regimes and from contractive to dilative states. A review of different methods for the estimation of the coefficient of consolidation, and hence the normalized penetration velocity, enables a comparison of the estimated state parameter with independent values calculated from recovered saturated samples, showing the ability of this technique to infer the state parameter from CPT tests where partial drainage occurs.
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Data Availability Statement
The CPTs used on this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the important support from ConeTec and Klohn Crippen Berger in the sponsorship of the small calibration chamber. This work forms part of TAILLIQ (Tailings Liquefaction), which is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project supported by financial and in-kind contributions from Anglo American, BHP, Freeport-McMoRan, Newmont, Rio Tinto, and Teck. The TAILLIQ project is being carried out at the University of New South Wales, University of South Australia, University of Western Australia (lead university), and University of Wollongong. We acknowledge the support and contributions of project personnel at each of the supporting organizations.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 6 • June 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 30, 2022
Accepted: Jan 4, 2023
Published online: Mar 31, 2023
Published in print: Jun 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Aug 31, 2023
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