An experimental study on tailings deposition characteristics and variation of tailings dam saturation line

This study adopted soil test and laboratory physical model experiments to simulate the tailings impoundment accumulation process according to the principle of similarity. Relying on the practical engineering, it analyzed the tailings deposition characteristics on dry beach surface during the damming process, as well as the variation rules of dam saturation line. Results suggested that, the tailings particles gradually became finer along the dry beach surface to inside the impoundment. The particle size suddenly changed at the junction between the deposited beach and the water surface, which displayed an obvious coarsening phenomenon. Besides, the deposited beach exhibited the vertical feature of coarse upward and fine downward on the whole. Additionally, in the physical model, the saturation line elevated with the increase in dam height, and its amplitude was relatively obvious within the range of 1.0-4.5 m away from the initial dam. Under flood condition, the saturation line height was higher than that under normal condition on the whole, with the maximum height difference of 4 cm. This study could provide an important theoretical basis for further studies on dam failure experiments and the evolution rules of leaked tailings flow.