Numerical Simulation of Seepage and Stability of Tailing Dams: A Case Study in Ledong, China

Jianxin Yang, Jun Hu, Yuwei Wu () and Boyang Zhang
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Jianxin Yang: Hainan Geological Comprehensive Survey and Design Institute, Haikou 570206, China
Jun Hu: School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Yuwei Wu: School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Boyang Zhang: School of Material Science and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-17

Abstract: Tailings dams are built to safely store tailings and to protect the natural environment from damage. However, tailings dam accidents occur frequently, endangering the safety of life and property, and causing pollution to the environment. Many tailings dam accidents are caused by seepage. As such, this study takes the No. II tailings dam of Ledong Baolun Gold Mine in Hainan Province as an example and builds a two-dimensional finite element model to simulate the seepage field. The effects of normal-water-level and high-water-level conditions on the total head, pressure head, and wetting line of the main and auxiliary dams were compared. The results show that higher water levels in both the main dam and the auxiliary dam lead to a higher pressure head at the top of the dam, lower pressure head at the bottom of the dam, higher total pressure head, and at the same time, a higher wetting line, and greater destabilization. In this study, the seepage deformation failure of the main dam and the auxiliary dam, in both cases, does not occur.

Keywords: tailings dam constructing; seepage; stability; numerical simulation; environmental control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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