Experimental Study on Factors Influencing the Strength Distribution of In Situ Cemented Tailings Backfill

Abstract

Previous studies have found that the strength of in situ cemented tailings backfill usually presents an S-shaped distribution, which decreases first, then increases, and decreases thereafter along the direction of slurry flow. In this study, to explore the factors determining the distribution, a similar model test of cemented tailings backfill was carried out. The distribution law of grain size composition and the cement content of backfill materials along the flow direction were experimentally studied, and the comprehensive factor influencing the strength distribution was analyzed. The results show that, firstly, near the feeding point, there are more coarse particles, whereas the content of fine particles is higher farther away. The measured maximum median particle size can be more than three times the minimum value. Secondly, the cement content increases gradually along the flow direction and reaches the peak at the end of the model, which can be more than twice the minimum value, indicating that the degree of segregation is significant. Thirdly, the strength distribution of cemented backfills is comprehensively determined by both the particle size distribution (PSD) and the cement content. The maximum value appears neither at the point with peak median particle size, nor at the point with the highest cement content. Lastly, there is a strong linear correlation between the strength of cemented backfills and the strength factor (SF), which is defined as the product of the uniformity coefficient and cement content of filling materials, indicating that the SF can be used to quantitatively reflect the comprehensive effects of PSD and cement content on the strength. As SF is a comprehensive quantitative index reflecting the distribution of strength, it will be further studied in later research to acquire more experimental results of the relationship between sample strength and SF, which will be meaningful for the quality evaluation of in situ cemented backfills, and the optimization of backfill system.