Thesis (M.App.Sc.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-155). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M. Eng.(Structural Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Eng.(Geotechnical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

A vast amount and variety of mine tailings are produced around the world each day. In the gold¬mining industry in South Africa the residue of crushed are is disposed of in large tailings or hydraulic fill dams. The outer walls of these dams are built up of layers of material, each of which is allowed to dry before the next layer is placed. In order to study the stability of these walls, the appropriate engineering properties of the tailings must be ascertained. Due to the construction technique used in tailings dam construction, the outer walls are in an unsaturated state, which also means that suctions are generated within the tailings. Various techniques exist to measure suction, most of which are indirect methods. The recent development of the mid-¬plane suction probe at the University of Pretoria created the opportunity of measuring suctions directly on desiccating samples of gold mine tailings. A test method has been developed from which soil mechanics parameters can be derived from suction measurements. The experimental programme consisted of a series of these newly developed tests on fine and coarse samples of gold mine tailings, as well as on different particle size ranges. The experimental results were used in the development of a new method of predicting the air-entry value, with only the grading of the tailings known. A new method of predicting the soil-water characteristic curve up to the air-entry value was also proposed. The results of the research showed that the tailings remain saturated up to the air-entry value. The clay, fine silt and medium silt sized tailings was found to be the controlling particle size ranges in the development of suctions. The vast amount of parameters and information gained through the use of the proposed test method clearly indicates its effectiveness in studying the performance and characteristics of a material drying from saturation. The results also indicated the effectiveness of the mid-plane suction probe for the direct measurement of suction. / Dissertation (M Eng (Geotechnical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Civil Engineering / unrestricted

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MEng (Geotechnical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Civil Engineering / unrestricted

[pt] A disposição de rejeitos tem sido uma preocupação muito importante nas empresas de mineração de todo o mundo, tendo como principal motivo a proteção do meio ambiente. Diariamente geram-se grandes quantidades de rejeitos nas plantas de beneficiamento de minérios, sendo necessário dispor de estruturas de armazenamento adequadas (barragem de rejeito) que, dependendo da produção industrial, devem ser alteadas para aumentar a capacidade de armazenamento destas estruturas. Três métodos de alteamento de barragens podem ser utilizados: o método à montante, o método à jusante e o método da linha de centro. O método à montante, discutido nesta dissertação, começa com a construção de um dique de partida. Terminada esta etapa, os rejeitos são depositados à montante, formando uma praia que adensará com o tempo, aumentando gradualmente a resistência ao cisalhamento do rejeito e servindo de fundação para futuros diques de alteamento. Este procedimento continua sucessivamente, até atingir a cota prevista de projeto. É um método de construção simples e de baixo custo, mas sua principal desvantagem é que velocidades de alteamento excessivas podem induzir a liquefação estática, causa principal do colapso de várias barragens de rejeito construídas no mundo. Neste trabalho é investigado o potencial de liquefação de uma barragem de rejeito de cobre, situada no Peru, com auxílio do método empírico de Olson, baseado em correlações com resultados de ensaios de campo SPT, e do método de elementos finitos, com utilização do modelo constitutivo elastoplástico UBCSand para previsão de liquefação. / [en] The disposal of tailings has been a very important concern in mining companies around the world, with the main objective to protect the environment. Large quantities of tailings are generated daily in the ore processing plants, being necessary the availability of specific storage structures (tailings dam) which, depending on the industrial production, must be successively raised in their lifetime to provide higher storage capacity. Three methods of dam raising can be used: the upstream method, the downstream method and the centerline method. The upstream method, discussed in this thesis, begins with the construction of a starting dyke. After this step, the tailings are deposited upstream, forming a beach which will consolidate over time, gradually increasing the shear resistance of the waste and serving as a foundation for future raising dikes. This procedure continues until the final dam elevation is reached. This method is of simple construction and low cost, but its main disadvantage is that the raising speeds can be excessive and they may induce static liquefaction, a major cause of failure of tailing dams around the world. This dissertation investigates the liquefaction potential of a copper tailing dam, situated in Peru, making use of the empirical method proposed by Olson, based on correlations with data from SPT field tests, and the finite element method, considering the elastoplastic constitutive model UBCSand.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In South Africa a large number of dams owned by the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) need to be rehabilitated. This study investigated the decision process involved in the prioritisation of dams for rehabilitation. DWA developed a risk analysis methodology for defining the risks associated with dam safety, expressed as the combination of the probability and consequences of dam failure. These risks are evaluated usingmultiple acceptability criteria to assess risk to human life and the economic, social, socio-economic and environmental impacts of dam failure. In this study, the criteria used in the decision process to evaluate the acceptability of life safety risks were evaluated by comparing to international best practice methods, where the acceptability of risk to human life is commonly assessed as the expected number of fatalities against life safety criteria presented as FN-criteria on an FN-diagram. Damrehabilitation should reduce the probability of dam failure, thereby reducing the risk to society in terms of the expected lives lost. However, the rehabilitation works come at a cost and the level of these investments are usually large. In addition, the rehabilitation of South African government owned dams are financed by society and these financial resources are limited. Thus investments into dam rehabilitation works should be worthwhile for society. Society’s Willingness to Pay (SWTP) for safety was applied to South African dam safety to determine the acceptable level of expenditure into life safety that is required by society. Investments into improved safety levels are not always dictated by society, but could also be driven by the decision maker or owner requiring an economically optimal solution for the rehabilitation. Economic optimisation accounts for considerations additional to life safety, including economic motivations, damage costs of dam failure as well as compensation costs for lives lost. Often economic optimisation would govern the decision problem. Also, the DWA current evaluation does not take the cost of rehabilitation into account in any way. Thus, FN-criteria that primarily evaluates life safety, but also incorporates a measure of economic efficiency, were suggested in this study. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In Suid-Afrika moet ’n groot aantal dammewat deur dieDepartement vanWaterwese (DWA) besit word gerehabiliteer word. Hierdie studie het die besluitnemingsproses ondersoekwat toegepasword om damme te prioritiseer vir rehabilitasiewerke. DWA het ’n bestaande metodologie wat gebaseer is op risiko-analise. Die risikos wat verband hou met damveiligheid word deur die metode bepaal en word uitgedruk as die kombinasie van waarskynlikheid en die beraamde gevolge van damfaling. Hierdie risikosword geëvalueer teenoor verskeie kriteriawat die aanvaarbaarheid van risikos teenoor menselewens en die ekonomiese, sosiale, sosio-ekonomiese en omgewingsimpakte van damfalings assesseer. In hierdie studie word die kriteria wat gebruik word in die besluitnemingsproses om die aanvaarbaarheid van risikos teenoor menselewens te bepaal geëvalueer deur die kriteria te vergelyk met metodes wat internasionaal as beste praktyk beskou word. Internasionaal word die aanvaarbaarheid van risikos teenoor menselewens oor die algemeen as die verwagte aantal sterftes teenoor lewensveiligheidskriteria FN-kriteria op ’n FN-diagram geassesseer. Dam rehabilitasiewerke behoort die waarskynlikheid van damfaling te verminder, sodoende verminder die risiko teenoor die samelewing in terme van verwagte sterftes. Die rehabilitasiewerke vereis finansiële beleggings, en hierdie beleggings is gewoonlik groot. Verder word die rehabilitasie van Suid-Afrikaanse damme wat deur DWA besit word deur samelewing gefinansier en hierdie finasiële hulpbronne is beperk. Dus moet hierdie beleggings die moeite werd wees vir die samelewing. Die samelewing se bereidwilligheidomte betaal ("SWTP") vir veiligheid word toegepas in Suid- Afrikaanse damveiligheidomdie aanvaarbare vlak van beleggings vir ’n verbeterde veiligheid teenoor menselewens wat deur die samelewing vereis word te bepaal. Beleggings in verbeterde damveiligheidsvlakke word egter nie altyd bepaal deur die samelewing nie,maar kan ook gedryf word deur die besluitnemer of eienaar wat ’n ekonomies optimale oplossing vir die rehabilitatiesewerke vereis. Ekonomiese optimering neem oorwegings addisioneel tot lewensveiligheid in ag, insluitend ekonomiese motiverings, skade kostes as die dam faal, sowel as vergoedingskostes vir die verwagte sterftes. Ekonomiese optimering beheer dikwels die besluitnemingsprobleem. Verder neem die huidige DWA besluitnemingssproses in geen manier die kostes van rehabilitasie in ag nie. Dus word FN-kriteria wat hoofsaaklik veiligheid teenoor menselewens evalueer,maar wat ook ’n mate van ekonomiese doeltreffendheid insluit, voorgestel in hierdie studie.

I Sverige finns det idag ett stort antal dammar och nära hälften av Sveriges elproduktion kommer ifrån vattenkraft. Höga säkerhetskrav ställs på dammarna då konsekvenserna av ett dammbrott kan orsaka stor ekonomisk skada både i form av minskad produktion och som uppbyggnadskostnader. Dammbrott kan även utgöra risk för skador på människor och omkringliggande miljö samt byggnader. Det finns flera dimensioneringsmetoder för att uppfylla gällande säkerhetskrav på konstruktioner. De tillämpningsvägledningar som används vid stabilitetsanalys av betongdammar baseras på gamla deterministiska metoder med säkerhetsfaktorer. Det arbetas med att ta fram nya tillämpningsvägledningar baserat på sannolikhetsbaserade metoder. De sannolikhetsbaserade metoderna tar hänsyn till osäkerheterna i enskilda variabler, vilket förväntas ge effektivare konstruktioner. Stabilitetsanalys med sannolikhetsbaserade metoder i varje enskilt fall är förmodligen det bästa ur säkerhetssynpunkt, men det kan vara väldigt tidskrävande. Ett sett att underlätta stabilitetsberäkningarna, i vanligt förekommande konstruktioner, är användandet av partialkoefficienter. Partialkoefficienter är en semi-probabilistisk metod som kan kalibreras med hjälp av tillförlitlighetsanalysen och appliceras på systemets olika variabler och parametrar. På så vis beaktas osäkerheten i enskilda variabler och parametrar bättre än i deterministiska metoder med säkerhetsfaktorer. Målet med det här examensarbetet var att undersöka om stabilitetsanalys av betongdammar med partialkoefficienter kan vara ett alternativ till de metoder som redan finns. Rapporten kan delas in i tre delar. Den första delen av rapporten beskriver teorin bakom kalibrering av partialkoefficienter med hjälp av tillförlitlighetsteori, FORM. I den andra delen beskrivs metoder och tillämpningsvägledning för stabilitetsanalys av betongdammar med probabilistiska metoder. I den tredje delen används kunskaperna från de två första delarna för att beräkna tillförlitligheten på 15 utav Sveriges dammar. Beräkningarna används sedan för att kalibrera partialkoefficienter. En del kraftiga avgränsningar har gjorts i arbetet, bland annat har beräkningarna utförts för ett statiskt lastfall och bara fokuserat på stabilitetsvillkoret för glidning. Resultatet visar att det inte är rekommenderat att använda sig av partialkoefficienter vid stabilitetsanalys, åtminstone inte med den information och kunskap som idag finns tillgänglig. Osäkerheterna kring vissa modeller och variabler behöver minskas för att partialkoefficienter skall vara ett alternativ. Teorin kring partialkoefficienter kräver även en viss likhet i konstruktioner och konstruktionselement. De dammar som användes i denna studie kan ha varit för olika för att erhålla tillfredsställande resultat med avseende på likartade partialkoefficienter. / In Sweden today there are a large number of dams and nearly half of Sweden's electricity is produced from hydropower. The safety requirements on the dams are high due to the consequences that a dam failure can cause. There are several design methods to achieve the expected safety requirements. The design guidelines used in the stability analysis of concrete dams in Sweden is based on the deterministic methods with safety factors. However, a new proposition for design guidelines based on probabilistic methods is being developed. Compared to the deterministic approach the probabilistic method takes into account the uncertainties in individual variables, which are expected to provide more efficient structures. One problem with stability analysis using probabilistic methods is that it can be very time consuming. Another method which combines the simplicity of the deterministic approach with the effectiveness of the probabilistic method is the use of partial factors. The use of partial factors is a semi-probabilistic method that can be calibrated from the reliability analysis in the probabilistic method and applied to the individual variables and parameters in the system similar to the safety factor. The aim of this thesis was to investigate if stability analysis of concrete dams with partial factors can be an alternative to the methods already available. The report can be divided into three parts. The first part of the report describes the theory behind the calibration process of partial factors using the first order reliability method, FORM. The second part describes existing Swedish methods and application guidelines for stability analysis of concrete dams. The knowledge from the first two parts is then used in order to calculate the reliability of 15 of Sweden's dams. It should be observed that the work contains some limitations, for instance only the sliding stability is studied using one static load case. The results from the calculation of this load case are then used to calibrate the partial factors. The result shows that it is not recommended to use the partial factors for stability analysis of concrete dams, at least not with the information and knowledge available today in the field. The uncertainties surrounding certain models and variables need to be reduced in order for partial factors to be an option. The theory behind partial factors requires a certain degree of uniformness when it comes to the structure or elements used. The difference among the dams analyzed in this study may have impacted the results negatively.

Dams are designed and assessed based on traditional factor of safety methodology. Several drawbacks of this approach exist; for example varying failure probability for structures where the factor of safety is the same. This traditional factor of safety methodology imposes conservative assumptions in terms of both design and analysis. A probability-based analysis has been suggested to account for the omission of uncertainties and provide a less conservative analysis (Westberg & Johansson, 2014). Through the stability analyses of three existing dam structures, a minimum level of reliability or maximum failure probability may be calculated with the ultimate goal of defining a target safety index (β-target) for buttress and gravity dams. These analyses shall in turn contribute to the formulation of a probability-based guideline for the design and assessment of Swedish concrete dams. This probability-based guideline shall be known as the ‘Probabilistic Model Code for Concrete Dams.’ The calculations carried out in this study adhere to the methodologies and specifications set out in the preliminary draft of the Probabilistic Model Code for Concrete Dams. These methodologies encompass analyses within two dominating failure modes for concrete dams; sliding stability and overturning stability. Various load combinations have been modelled for each dam structure to account for the probabilistic failure of each dam under commonly occurring circumstances. A parametric study has been carried out in order to provide insight into the contribution that existing rock bolts provide to the stability of each dam. Furthermore, a study has been carried out into the existence of a persistent rock joint or failure plane in the rock foundation and the effects its presence would have on the sliding stability of a dam. Finally a discussion had been carried out in order to provide suggestions into the formulation of a target safety index through the data envisaged by our analyses for the design and assessment of Swedish concrete dams.

The shear strength of the concrete-rock interface is an important parameter in sliding stability analyses of concrete dams founded on rock and depends, in addition to the normal stress state, on the bonding conditions of the interface; concrete-rock interfaces can be either unbonded, partially bonded or fully bonded. In the Swedish guidelines for dam safety all dam-foundation contacts are treated as unbonded. This has the benefit of eliminating all uncertainties related to the cohesive strength of bonded contacts but it might also lead to unnecessary strengthening of dams. Other national guidelines deal with the uncertainties related to cohesion by applying higher safety factors, mainly determined based on previous experience, when both cohesion and friction are taken into account. The main objective of this project is to study if and how cohesion can be included when evaluating the shear strength of bonded or partially bonded interfaces. To accomplish this, uncertainties associated with cohesion are identified and their influence on the assessed stability is investigated. The results show that the influence on the assessed sliding stability is strongly dependent on the magnitude of the involved uncertainties that might vary significantly for different dams. It is thus questionable if one safety factor applicable for all dams can be established for use in deterministic analyses. Taking into account cohesion when reliability methods are used is somewhat less complicated because of the possibility of directly incorporating the uncertainties in the analysis. The main challenge in such cases is the quantification of the involved uncertainties due to lack of proper data and, in some cases, knowledge. In this thesis, a framework for quantification of parameter uncertainty is suggested and the model error due to brittle failure in combination with spatial variation in cohesion is analysed. Areas that require more research to further refine the analysis are also identified. / Skjuvhållfastheten i betong-berggränssnittet är en avgörande faktor vid glidstabilitetsutvärderingar av befintliga betongdammar grundlagda på berg och beror dels på normalspänningsfördelningen och dels på kontaktytans status med avseende på vidhäftning, vilken kan delas in i tre separata fall; då vidhäftning existerar och kohesion medräknas (intakt), då vidhäftning aldrig funnits eller förlorats (bruten), samt en kombination av föregående (delvis intakt). I RIDAS, de svenska riktlinjerna för dammsäkerhet, behandlas alla berg-betonggränssnitt som brutna. Detta förhållningssätt har fördelen att det utelämnar all osäkerhet förknippad med intakta kontaktytors kohesion men det kan också resultera i icke nödvändiga förstärkningar av dammar. I andra nationella riktlinjer för dammsäkerhet beaktas osäkerheterna förknippade med kohesion genom att högre säkerhetsfaktorer, i huvudsak bestämda baserat på erfarenhet, tillämpas då både kohesion och friktion används vid beräkning av kontaktytans skjuvhållfasthet. Det övergripande syftet med detta doktorandprojekt är att studera om och hur kohesion kan medräknas vid stabilitetsutvärderingar av befintliga betongdammar med helt eller delvis intakta betong-berggränssnitt. För att uppnå detta, identifieras osäkerheter förknippande med kohesionen och deras inverkan på den bedömda glidstabiliteten utvärderas. Resultaten från projektet visar att osäkerheternas inverkan på den uppskattade glidstabiliteten är starkt beroende av osäkerheternas storlek, vilken varierar för olika dammar. Det är således tveksamt om en säkerhetsfaktor giltig för alla dammar kan bestämmas för användning i deterministiska stabilitetsanalyser. När sannolikhetsbaserade metoder används kan osäkerheterna införlivas direkt i analysen. Kvantifieringen av osäkerheterna förknippade med ett specifikt fall utgör då den huvudsakliga utmaningen. I denna avhandling presenteras ett ramverk för att uppskatta de statistiska parametrarna hos de ingående variablerna. Dessutom studeras modellosäkerheten förknippad med intakta gränssnitts spröda brott i kombination med kohesionens rumsliga variation i detalj. Områden som fordrar ytterligare forskning i syfte att förbättra analysen identifieras också. / <p>QC 20160411</p>