Tailing dams and waste dumps formed by the accumulation of mine wastes are usually at long-term unsaturated state under evaporation and consolidated drainage conditions. Soil-water retention relation is one of the key constitutive relations to analyze the seepage processes in tailing dams and waste dumps. In this study, typical coarse- and fine-grained tailings from a metallurgical mine were chosen to study the soil-water retention characteristics of the tailing samples. To begin with, the relationship between volumetric water content and suction of the tailing samples was experimentally measured, and typical soil-water characteristic curves (SWCCs) (i.e., Gardner, van Genuchten and Fredlund–Xing curves) were applied to fit the experimental data. After that, four empirical models to estimate the parameters in SWCCs (i.e., Aubertin-1998 model, Aubertin-2003 model, Vanapalli-2005 model and Chin-2010 model) were tested, and the Vanapalli-2005 model was the best-fit model for the tailing samples. Furthermore, this study proposes a generalized emergency risk assessment soil-water retention characteristics model for tailing dams and waste dumps, and a framework for the quick estimation of parameters in the SWCC is proposed as well. The recommended soil-water retention characteristics model and the related parameters can be used to predict water levels in tailing dams and waste dumps, which are very helpful for emergency risk assessment under rainstorm or flooding conditions.

由矿山废料堆积形成的尾矿坝和废料堆通常在蒸发和固结排水条件下处于长期不饱和状态。水土保持关系是分析尾矿坝和垃圾场渗流过程的关键本构关系之一。在这项研究中，选择了冶金矿山中典型的粗粒和细粒尾矿来研究尾矿样品的土壤保水特性。首先，通过实验测量尾矿样品的含水量与吸力之间的关系，并应用典型的土壤-水特征曲线（SWCC）（即Gardner，van Genuchten和Fredlund-Xing曲线）来拟合实验数据。 。之后，用四个经验模型估算SWCC中的参数（即Aubertin-1998模型，测试了Aubertin-2003模型，Vanapalli-2005模型和Chin-2010模型，Vanapalli-2005模型是尾矿样品的最佳拟合模型。此外，本研究提出了一种用于尾矿坝和垃圾场的通用紧急风险评估土壤-水保留特征模型，并为SWCC中的参数快速估算提供了框架。推荐的土壤保水特性模型和相关参数可用于预测尾矿坝和垃圾场的水位，这对于暴雨或洪水条件下的紧急风险评估非常有帮助。这项研究为尾矿坝和垃圾场提出了一个通用的紧急风险评估土壤水分保持特征模型，并为SWCC中的参数快速估算提供了一个框架。推荐的土壤保水特性模型和相关参数可用于预测尾矿坝和垃圾场的水位，这对于暴雨或洪水条件下的紧急风险评估非常有帮助。这项研究为尾矿坝和垃圾场提出了一个通用的紧急风险评估土壤水分保留特征模型，并为SWCC中的参数快速估算提供了一个框架。推荐的土壤保水特性模型和相关参数可用于预测尾矿坝和垃圾场的水位，这对于暴雨或洪水条件下的紧急风险评估非常有帮助。