Dynamic response of thickened tailings in shaking table testing

In this study, an instrumented thickened tailings deposit model was designed, built and employed to evaluate the behaviour of layered thickened tailings to dynamic loading by using a shaking table equipment. The thickened tailings were deposited subsequently in three thin layers in a flexible laminar shear box mounted on top of the shaking table. Cyclic loading with a peak horizontal acceleration of 0.13 g and a frequency of 1 Hz was applied to the layered tailings deposit. Different types of sensors were placed to monitor the accelerations, displacements, volumetric water content and pore water pressures at the intermediate depth of each layer. Results indicated that the acceleration for the bottom and middle layers were similar to that of the base of the shaking table; but, this was not the case for the top layer. The measurements of vertical displacements indicated that all layers of thickened tailings experienced initially contraction and subsequently dilation during the shaking. The excess pore water pressure ratios were found to exceed unity through all layers of thickened tailings when the shaking ended. In other words, the results showed that the layered thickened tailings are susceptible to liquefaction under the considered testing conditions. It is also found that upward pore water migration to the top layer and downward pore water flow to the bottom layer occurred in the thickened tailings deposit. This water migration generated additional pore water pressure and also impacted the vertical displacement and liquefaction susceptibility of the thickened tailings material. The results of this study give a better understanding of the dynamic behaviour of thickened tailings, which is crucial for the safety of thickened tailings systems as well as sustainable mining.