A series of physical tests were carried out using three different particle sizes to investigate the influence of tailings size on the failure process of a tailings dam subjected to overtopping. In addition, the overtopping failure process was simulated with a computational fluid mechanics model. The tests results showed that with increased tailings size, the mode of failure gradually changed from undercut erosion to surface scouring, while the gully cut by the water had a greater width to depth ratio. In addition, the particle size also affected the characteristics of the discharge process and its duration. Numerical simulation results were basically consistent with the physical model results with respect to both discharge process and duration time. The comparison shows that the numerical method could possibly be useful for other studies on the overtopping failure of tailings dams.

中文翻译：

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尾矿粒径对漫溢尾矿坝破坏的影响

使用三种不同的粒径进行了一系列物理试验，以研究尾矿粒度对尾矿坝漫顶破坏过程的影响。此外，用计算流体力学模型模拟了越顶破坏过程。试验结果表明，随着尾矿粒度的增加，破坏模式逐渐从底切侵蚀转变为表面冲刷，而被水切割的沟渠具有更大的宽深比。此外，粒径也影响放电过程的特性及其持续时间。数值模拟结果在放电过程和持续时间方面与物理模型结果基本一致。