Studies on the Liquefaction Behaviour of Tailings and Natural Sand
Abstract
This series of studies explores the liquefaction behaviour of cohesionless mine tailings and a natural sand and examines the effectiveness of a bio-mediated treatment for the mitigation of liquefaction. The first study investigates the flow liquefaction failure of the Fundão tailings dam (2015) by analytically assessing the stability of the breached abutment, accounting for the specific triggering mechanism and subsequent strength loss that led to its collapse. The second study evaluates the static liquefaction behaviour of gold mine tailings and its correlations with shear-wave velocity through an experimental program comprised of direct simple-shear and bender element tests. The last study investigates the static and cyclic liquefaction behaviour of Fraser River sand and assesses the efficiency of a Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation treatment in improving the sand’s resistance to liquefaction. Overall, liquefaction is shown to produce substantial strength loss, and bio-mediation is proven to successfully mitigate it in the natural sand.