Coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical Behaviour of Cemented Paste Backfill in Static and Dynamic Loading Conditions, and Application to their Engineering Design

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Cemented paste backfill (CPB), a mix of tailings, binder and water, is extensively used in the mining industry. Its main purpose is to ensure the stability of underground openings, safe and maximum ore recovery, and also to provide an environmental-friendly means of underground disposal of potential acid generating tailings. To assure the roles mentioned above, the CPB structure must show acceptable performance such as sufficient mechanical stability under static and dynamic loading conditions, acceptable environmental behaviour and cost. In the field, a CPB structure is simultaneously subjected to mechanical (M), hydraulic (H), chemical (C), and thermal (T) loads from early to advanced ages once it has been built. A reliable assessment of the performance and the design of CPB absolutely require the integration of these coupled THMC processes under static and dynamic loading conditions. Therefore, based on the combination of advanced experimental and modeling techniques, novel methods and tools for the study of the response of CPB to THMC loads in static and dynamic loading conditions are identified and proposed in this research program. This research will contribute to decreasing backfill operation costs, increasing mine productivity, while at the same time, improving the health and safety of mine workers and respecting applicable and increasingly complex environmental regulations. All the work proposed herein is novel, so new knowledge and innovation are anticipated and will be made available to the scientific, engineering and mining communities, and the general public. This research will also provide opportunities to train four PhD students, four Master's students, six 4th y. und. students, and one geotechnical technician. The HQPs will receive strong foundation in fundamental and applied research as well as gain an exceptionally broad range of valuable hands-on experience, experimental and modelling skills with state-of-the-art research tools. They will obtain their graduate degrees having acquired theoretical, modeling and experimental skills in a key research area for Canada: skills, which are immediately useful and valued by industry, governmental settings and academia alike.