SPH modelling of dam breach run out flow for a site planning tailings storage facility

¹ College of Energy and Mining Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, P. R. China
² College of Safety Engineering, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing 401331, P. R. China
³ School of Civil Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266033, P.R. China

¹ Corresponding author: kwang@sdust.edu.cn

Abstract

Tailings storage facilities (TSFs) are being built globally for containing the chief solid waste stream from mining industry. Catastrophic TSF breach accidents have occurred frequently since the beginning of the 21^st century, causing severe impacts on the environment, economy and community safety. The recent example is the 2019 Brumadinho accident in Brazil that released 12 million m³ of tailings and killed more than 249 people. The foreknowledge of the TSF breach run out overland flow can be crucial to prevent or minimize possible losses. Using the Digital Surface Model (DSM) terrain data and the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) numerical method, this study proposed a procedure to predict the routings of hypothetical TSF breach run out flow over downstream complex terrain. A case study of a planning TSF site in Guizhou Province of China was carried out to evaluate its applicability. The results suggested that the maximum routing distance of the TSF breach run out flow was 1.45 km. At 240 s, the run out flow began to impact the downstream viaduct piers with the maximum submerged depth of 3.3 m and the maximum impact force of 21.8 kPa. Essential protective measures were recommended before the TSF site construction. The proposed procedure is then recommended for the safety management of the TSFs globally.