Penna, DCR & Oliveira-Filho, WL 2013, 'Constitutive relation between void ratio and undrained shear strength for iron fine tailings', in R Jewell,  AB Fourie, J Caldwell & J Pimenta (eds), Paste 2013: Proceedings of the 16th International Seminar on Paste and Thickened Tailings, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 651-658, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1363_51_Penna
(https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/1363_51_Penna/)
Abstract: Slurry impoundments of fine tailings usually show disadvantageous geotechnical features for earthworks such as cover systems, internal dikes and access roads structures, due to high compressibility and low shear strength, making construction on this type of foundation a big challenge for likely large settlements and poor bearing capacity. In this context, the development of an easy and simple method to predict a constitutive relation between void ratio and undrained shear strength is examined. This relation is obtained for slurry pipeline iron ore fine tailings, through laboratory tests.
Previous researches on these slurries focused on consolidation and desiccation issues and the results were applied mainly for storage purposes and water management. The proposed method has the potential to expand those studies of deposit formation providing more comprehensive information on material behaviour and consequently better opportunities for optimum design and tailings management strategy.