Modelling tailings dams and mine waste dumps failures

This paper presents a depth-integrated model that can be used to simulate the flowslides, mudflows and debris flows that are caused by the failure of tailing dams, mining waste dumps and other similar structures. The sliding mass is first determined using a coupled elastoplastic finite element code and a suitable constitutive equation. Once failure has been triggered, propagation of the mobilised material is analysed considering flow properties averaged over depth. A simple law of pore pressure dissipation is postulated for cases in which the consolidation and propagation times are of the same order of magnitude.