Ore beneficiation processes produce huge quantities of waste rock in the form of tailings. For dispersed remote artisanal mining sites that are unapproachable to strong construction and building materials, compacted MTs can be utilized an alternative to construct civilian buildings. The mechanical behaviors of compacted clay and adobe masonry were studied by numerous researchers; however, the understanding of the strain behavior and fracture properties was insufficient to illustrate compacted MTs due to differences in the material properties. Therefore, in this paper, the strain behavior and fracture properties of compacted MTs under mode I loading condition were explored. A series of semi-circular bending (SCB) tests were performed to examine the mode I fracture behavior of compacted MTs at different notch depths. Simultaneously, digital image correlation (DIC) technique was utilized to acquire the surface image sequence under mode I loading condition in order to characterize the strain behaviors. Williams series was introduced to measure the mode I fracture toughness in a full-field displacement field via DIC analysis. The mode I fracture toughness obtained by empirical equation, the Williams series, and the modified empirical equation considering plasticity in the notch tip were all comparatively examined in this paper. Moreover, the strain behaviors of the compacted MTs at different loading levels were explored. Finally, the size of the fracture process zone (FPZ) and crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) were quantified by using DIC. Results revealed that the mode I fracture toughness obtained from full-field displacement field and modified empirical equation analysis was larger than from the empirical equation.

矿石选矿过程产生大量的尾矿形式的废石。对于无法用于坚固的建筑和建筑材料的分散的偏远手工采矿场，可以使用压实的MT作为建造民用建筑的替代方法。许多研究人员研究了压实粘土和土坯砌体的力学性能。然而，由于材料性能的差异，对应变行为和断裂性能的了解不足以说明压实的MT。因此，本文研究了在I型加载条件下压实MT的应变行为和断裂特性。进行了一系列的半圆弯曲（SCB）测试，以检查压实MT在不同缺口深度下的I型断裂行为。同时地，为了表征应变行为，利用数字图像相关（DIC）技术在模式I加载条件下获取表面图像序列。引入了Williams系列，通过DIC分析来测量全场位移场中的I型断裂韧性。本文通过经验公式，Williams级数和考虑了缺口尖端塑性的改进的经验公式获得的模式I断裂韧性都进行了比较研究。此外，还研究了压实MT在不同载荷水平下的应变行为。最后，使用DIC对断裂过程区（FPZ）的大小和裂纹尖端张开位移（CTOD）进行了定量。