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Geomechanical behavior and properties of cemented paste backfill under passive interface loading and their influences on field-scale stability

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Abstract

After placement into underground mined-out voids (called stopes), a passive interface loading develops between cemented paste backfill (CPB, an artificially cemented soil) and surrounding rock mass, which results in the spatiotemporal changes in the geomechanical behavior and properties of CPB, and thus affects its field stability. In this study, meter-scale curing columns with rough inner surfaces were developed to investigate the effect of passive interface loading on the geomechanical behavior and properties of CPB, and field-scale stability of CPB mass was conducted through a series of 3D numerical analyses. The obtained results discovered that the passive interface loading not only weakens the compressive and shear behaviors of CPB, but also leads to highly spatiotemporal changes in elastic modulus, unconfined compressive strength, cohesion, and angle of internal friction. Meanwhile, through the integration of the measured degradation in mechanical properties, the field-scale analysis reveals that consideration of stress arching and homogenous mechanical properties substantially overestimate the stability of CPB mass, especially in the narrow stopes with a relatively small height. The simultaneous consideration of stress arching and associated heterogeneous mechanical properties are required for the reliable and accurate assessment of the field stability of CPB mass and its safe engineering design.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (RGPIN-2019–05078).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON, P7B 5E1, Canada

    Liang Cui & Sai Pramod Singalreddy

  2. Key Laboratory of Coastal Environment and Resources of Zhejiang Province (KlaCER), School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China

    Guanlong Guo

Authors
  1. Liang Cui
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  2. Sai Pramod Singalreddy
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  3. Guanlong Guo
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Correspondence to Liang Cui.

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Appendix 1. rock/CPB interface model

The relative interface displacement d∆ is assumed to consist of elastic and plastic parts (i.e., d∆e and d∆p). Correspondingly, the incremental form of the interface stress σ can be expressed by the elastic part of the relative displacement d∆e and interface stiffness Ke:

$$ d{\varvec{\sigma}} = {\varvec{K}}^{e} d{{\varvec{\Delta}}}_{e} = {\varvec{K}}^{e} \left( {d{{\varvec{\Delta}}} - d{{\varvec{\Delta}}}_{p} } \right) $$
(10)

To evaluate rock/CPB interface behavior, the contribution of interface friction and adhesion was evaluated through Drucker–Prager yield criterion in which the model parameters related to friction and adhesion govern the position of the yield surface.

$$ F_{{{\text{int}}f}} (I_{1} ,\sqrt {J_{2} } ) = \sqrt {J_{2} } + \alpha_{{{\text{int}}f}} \left( {I_{1} - C_{{{\text{int}}f}} } \right) = 0 $$
(11)

where I1 and J2 denote the first stress invariant and second deviatoric stress invariant, the yield function parameters αintf and Cintf can be defined in terms of the interface friction angle, δintf, and adhesion, cintf.

$$ \alpha_{{_{{_{{{\text{int}}f}} }} }} = \frac{{2\sin \delta_{{{\text{int}}f}} \left( \xi \right)}}{{\sqrt 3 \left[ {3 + \sin \delta_{{{\text{int}}f}} \left( \xi \right)} \right]}} $$
(12)
$$ C_{{{\text{int}}f}} \,{ = }\,3c_{{{\text{int}}f}} \left( \xi \right) \cdot \cot \delta_{{{\text{int}}f}} \left( \xi \right) $$
(13)

A detailed discussion about the determination of interface model parameters can be found in [14]. Moreover, the interface friction angle δintf and adhesion cintf are commonly assumed to be related to the shear strength parameters of CPB materials in practice. To simplify the numerical analysis, the same assumption is adopted in the present study. Correspondingly, δintf = 0.5Φ and cintf = 0.1c are assumed.

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Cui, L., Singalreddy, S.P. & Guo, G. Geomechanical behavior and properties of cemented paste backfill under passive interface loading and their influences on field-scale stability. Acta Geotech. 18, 3927–3945 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-023-01798-4

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