TY - JOUR
T1 - In Situ Seismic Investigations for Evaluating Geotechnical Properties and Liquefaction Potential of Fine Coal Tailings
AU - Liew, Min
AU - Xiao, Ming
AU - Liu, Shimin
AU - Rudenko, Douglas
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful for the financial support provided by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), US Department of Interior. This paper is based upon work supported by OSMRE under Cooperative Agreement No. S16AC20074. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of OSMRE. The authors thank the crew members of Vibra-Tech Engineers for performing the seismic survey. The authors also thank Dr. Behnoud Kermani and Dr. Jintai Wang, former PhD students at the Pennsylvania State University, for their help in the seismic survey.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
PY - 2020/5/1
Y1 - 2020/5/1
N2 - This paper presents a field seismic investigation that is effective in evaluating the in situ geotechnical properties and liquefaction potential of fine coal tailings subjected to mine blasting. In this study, seismic refraction, multichannel analysis of surface waves, and seismic monitoring are performed on two coal tailings impoundments in Appalachian coalfields in the United States. Shear wave velocity, compressional wave velocity, Poisson's ratio, small-strain Young's modulus and shear modulus, and peak particle velocity of the fine coal tailings are derived. A relatively high rate of vibration attenuation is observed for the fine coal tailings when compared to other blasting applications. The fine coal tailings are evaluated to be potentially liquefiable when subjected to ground vibrations from mine blasting based on the simplified procedure for liquefaction evaluation with slight modifications and the input parameters from the seismic investigations. The nondestructive techniques and methodology described herein can serve as an alternative for liquefaction assessment.
AB - This paper presents a field seismic investigation that is effective in evaluating the in situ geotechnical properties and liquefaction potential of fine coal tailings subjected to mine blasting. In this study, seismic refraction, multichannel analysis of surface waves, and seismic monitoring are performed on two coal tailings impoundments in Appalachian coalfields in the United States. Shear wave velocity, compressional wave velocity, Poisson's ratio, small-strain Young's modulus and shear modulus, and peak particle velocity of the fine coal tailings are derived. A relatively high rate of vibration attenuation is observed for the fine coal tailings when compared to other blasting applications. The fine coal tailings are evaluated to be potentially liquefiable when subjected to ground vibrations from mine blasting based on the simplified procedure for liquefaction evaluation with slight modifications and the input parameters from the seismic investigations. The nondestructive techniques and methodology described herein can serve as an alternative for liquefaction assessment.
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U2 - 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002228
DO - 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002228
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85081163440
SN - 1090-0241
VL - 146
JO - Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
JF - Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
IS - 5
M1 - 04020014
ER -