Experimental Investigation on the Transport Behavior of a Sand/Mud/Water Mixture Through a Mining-Induced Caving Zone

• Published in: Mine water and the environment 2022-09, Vol.41 (3), p.629-639
• Main Authors: Liang, Yankun, Sui, Wanghua, Jiang, Tong, Shen, Xiangyang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquifers; Casualties; Coal mining; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecotoxicology; Environmental impact; Flow rates; Flow velocity; Geology; Glass; Glass beads; Grain size; Height; Hydraulics; Hydrogeology; Industrial Pollution Prevention; Mineral Resources; Mines; Mixtures; Mud; Permeability; Probability theory; Sand; Sand & gravel; Sand transport; Sediment transport; Seepage; Technical Article; Test systems; Transport phenomena; Transport rate; Water flow; Water Quality/Water Pollution
• ISSN: 1025-9112; 1616-1068
• DOI: 10.1007/s10230-022-00852-z

The transport of sand particles through various mining-induced caving zones was investigated experimentally under different initial infiltration water heads. These experiments were performed in a laboratory-scale caving zone packed with glass beads, using four different sizes of sand grains. The transports were categorized into two different patterns: seepage and driven. The probability of the driven pattern was greatly increased by increasing the height of the initial water head and the size ratio R s (the ratio of glass beads to sand particles by diameter). The sand portion of the sand/mud/water mixture had a high transport rate while the water had a low one in the mixture. Both rates increased with increasing initial water head height, with a larger increase in the sand transport rate than the water flow rate. The water flow rate is primarily governed by the permeability of the sand layer, while the sand transport rate is greatly affected by R s . These findings provide an insight into the mechanism of sand/mud/water mixture inrushes and a potential design idea for its control and treatment.