Mechanical strength, energy dissipation, and damage constitutive model of coal-based solid waste cemented paste backfill in deep mining

Abstract

Deep backfill mining requires understanding the mechanical behavior and damage evolution of coal-based solid waste cemented paste backfill (CSW-CPB). This study investigated the effects of slurry concentration, coal gangue (CG) size, CG/cement (CG/C) ratio, and fly ash/cement (FA/C) ratio on strength, energy evolution, and constitutive modeling. The results show that slurry concentration and FA/C ratio positively regulate strength, while CG/C ratio and CG size are negative regulators. Strain energy evolution comprises four stages (non-damage, stable growth, accelerated growth, and failure), corresponding to the stress – strain phases. Peak energy indices reveal that high slurry concentration increases total energy and elastic energy ratio while reducing the brittleness index; optimizing FA/C ratio (4) and fine CG gradation prolongs the yield plateau, promotes progressive dissipation, and transforms failure from brittle to ductile. A moderate CG/C ratio (6) maximizes elastic energy ratio (81.4%) and minimizes brittleness index (0.23). The FA/C ratio shows a non-monotonic effect: high ratio (5) reduces absolute stored energy but further reduces dissipation, raising the elastic ratio. Fine CG (0 – 5 mm) provides best energy storage. Finally, a stage-wise modified energy-based damage constitutive model incorporating a compaction coefficient (β) and a post-peak modification coefficient (γ) is established. The model accurately predicts the full stress – strain response of CSW-CPB across different mix proportions and significantly outperforms traditional models. This study provides a theoretical basis for CSW-CPB design in deep mining.

Keywords

cemented paste backfill / energy dissipation / damage evolution characteristics / damage model

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