Mechanical properties evaluation of waste gangue-based cemented backfill materials based on an improved response surface model.

Traditional mining methods damage the cultivated land and produce gangue waste that often contaminates the environment. Yet, these problems can be mitigated by transforming the waste into gangue-based cemented backfill material (GCBM), whose mechanical properties are crucial for surface protection. Therefore, in this study, an intelligent model based on laboratory tests was developed to evaluate the GCBM's mechanical properties. The strength tests and polynomial response surface model (PRSM) were used to analyze the non-linear correlation between the influencing factors and the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS). Meanwhile, the importance of multidimensional factors was analyzed by the mean impact value, revealing that concentration and gangue proportion are the most sensitive factors. In addition, an intelligent response surface model (IRSM) based on support vector regression model was constructed by enhancing an optimization algorithm with chaotic mapping and adaptive methods. The performance of the traditional PRSM and the novel IRSM was compared, and the IRSM was validated. The IRSM can predict UCS more efficiently and effectively than the traditional PRSM under high-dimensional factors, with R2 of 0.96 and MBE of 0.05. This indicated that the IRSM has the potential to promote coal mine waste reduction and environmental protection.

Experimental study of microorganism-induced calcium carbonate precipitation to solidify coal gangue as backfill materials: mechanical properties and microstructure.

The treatment of coal gangue solid waste and microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) consolidate technology is a focus of research at home and abroad. MICP technology was used to solidify and cement coal gangue particles and endows them with a certain strength. The process does not use the traditional cementitious material (Portland cement) and is eco-friendly and pollution-free. The mechanical properties including unconfined compressive strength, CaCO3 content, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used for macroscopic and microscopic analyses. The results show that the average strength of CG-based bio-mineralized backfill materials reaches 1.55 MPa and the maximum strength is 2.17 MPa, suggesting the potential for its use as an underground fill. Compared with unmineralized gangue, the CaCO3 crystal content in CG-based mineralized material is increased by 8.75% on average, and the maximum content is 13.34%. In the process of bacterial liquid perfusion, there is uneven distribution of bacteria in the material, which results in fewer CaCO3 crystals being locally generated in the mineralized material and affects the overall compressive strength of gangue columns. Moreover, the greater the amount of calcium carbonate, the larger the strength of the mineralized material. SEM analysis results indicate that the gaps between gangue particles are filled with CaCO3 crystals, and the calcium carbonate crystals are mostly polyhedral, showing stacked growth and contain a small number of spherical crystals that exist alone. The results of FTIR and EDS analysis show that the CaCO3 crystals in the mineralized material are mainly in the form of calcite, followed by a small amount of vaterite. Comprehensive analysis demonstrates that the preparation of CG-based bio-mineralized backfilling materials is successful, and this experiment provides new ideas and methods for the treatment of solid waste such as coal gangue and building material waste.