Effect of fiber on early strength and interface stiffness of cemented tailings backfill

Abstract This paper studies the early mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced cemented tailings backfill (CTB) and discuss its modification mechanism. The effects of fiber types and addition (polypropylene fiber, basalt fiber and glass fiber) on unconfined compressive strength of CTB were studied by unconfined compressive strength test (UCS). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to investigate the microstructure of fiber-reinforced CTB. Based on the theory of interface mechanics and the contact mechanism of fiber interface, the evolution mechanism of fiber-reinforced CTB interface characteristic stiffness was further explored. The results show that the fiber type and content have a significant effect on the strength of CTB, and the optimum addition of fibers is 0.4%. The strength of fiber-reinforced CTB samples increased first and then decreased with the increase of fiber content. The stress of CTB sample without fibers reaches the maximum value when the strain is 1.01%, while introduction of basalt fiber increases that value to 3.74%. In addition, the microstructure characteristics show that the hydration products around the fiber make the CTB sample have better compactness, and fibers can effectively inhibit the crack development of the CTB samples. Finally, using the theory of interface mechanics, it is found that the interface stiffness of CTB sample with basalt fibers is the largest, but the interface contact stiffness increases first and then decreases with the increase of fiber content, which is consistent with the law of macroscopic strength change.