Probability Distribution of Groundwater Table in Water-Rich Open-Pit Mine Slopes

Groundwater is a vital factor affecting the stability of water-rich slope of open-pit mine, and the distribution of groundwater inside water-rich slope is always uncertain. To investigate the uncertainty of groundwater distribution inside the water-rich slope, based on the engineering background of DEZIWA open-pit mine, this paper adopts the research method of field investigation and test (single and multiple borehole pumping tests), numerical simulation (Visual MODFOW), and theoretical analysis (nonlinear fitting theory, distribution fitting theory, and one-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test) to study the uncertainty of the distribution of groundwater table line within the water-rich slope of open-pit mine. Results obtained from the above research indicate that, Visual MODFLOW is an effective tool for obtaining groundwater distribution information inside the water-rich slope of open-pit mine. When the open-pit mine excavated to the final boundary, it is found that within multiple cross-sections of the southern and western regions of water-rich slope of the open-pit mine, groundwater table line can all be delineated by a series of 3-term Fourier equations, which can be characterized by identical equation forms but varying fitting coefficients. Furthermore, based on the findings of distribution fitting and one-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, it becomes evident that the probability distribution of the fitting coefficients of the aforementioned 3-term Fourier equations can all be described by the normal distribution models. Use the established normal distribution models in this paper, uncertainty of the groundwater distribution within the water-rich slope of DEZIWA open-pit mine can be described indirectly and quantitatively, and the research methods of this paper can provide a meaningful reference to the slope engineering with similar conditions.