International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-020-1970-y

 
Effect of curing humidity on performance of cemented paste backfill

Di Wu, Run-kang Zhao, Chao-wu Xie, and Shuai Liu

School of Energy and Mining Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
(Received: 25 September 2019; revised: 4 November 2019; accepted: 18 December 2019)

Abstract: Cemented paste backfill (CPB), a mixture of tailings, binder, and water, is widely and extensively used for the recovery of mineral
resources, the prevention of ground subsidence, and the management of mine waste. When installed, the CPB is subjected to complex environ-
mental conditions such as water content, temperature, and power, which have a significant impact on its efficiency. Thus, this study conducts a
series of laboratory programs, including investigation of moisture, temperature, stress–strain relation, and microstructure to show the effect of
curing humidity on the CPB behaviors. The results obtained indicate that ambient humidity can have a dramatic effect on CPB in terms of its
macro performance of internal relative humidity, temperature and strength, as well as the micro expression. Typical examples of these effects
on CPB include an increase in curing humidity, which favors binder hydration, and then an increase in hydration materials, temperature and
peak stress in the CPB. The results obtained will lead to a better understanding of CPB’s responses to various environmental conditions.
Keywords: cemented paste backfill; curing; humidity; temperature; microstructure

1. Introduction been extensively and increasingly utilized throughout the

Exploitation and utilization of mineral resources can cer-
tainly provide people with valuable mineral products, but this
also creates huge amounts of mine wastes. The type of mine
waste produced is mainly tailings, which are traditionally dis-
charged in impoundments behind dams [1]. The convention-
al management of mine tailings may have severe con-
sequences, such as failure of tailings impoundments that can
result in subsequent environmental contamination, property
damage, or even loss of human life. Also, the tailings ponds
occupy farmland, and the construction and maintenance of
tailings dams are also expensive. Except for the tailings pro-
duced, underground mining operations also create large
quantities of mined-out areas, which pose a potential threat to
the safety of miners at work. It has become one of the mining
industry’s major issues. As a practical and effective solution
to eliminating these negative consequences induced by tail-
ings and mined-out areas, cemented paste backfill (CPB)
technology has been introduced and employed [2–9]. This
technology is to prepare CPB materials by mixing tailings,
binder, and water, and then transport them into underground
openings via pipeline by gravity or pump pressure. The CPB
technology can not only achieve the management of both
tailings and mined-out areas but also improve the recovery
rate of ore resources. Therefore, the CPB technology has
world [10–16].
After being prepared, the fresh CPB is placed into an un-
derground mined-out stope. The fresh CPB starts to harden
gradually, and the hardened CPB structure needs to give sup-
port for the surrounding rock. Therefore, the CPB is needed
to show satisfactory mechanical performance. Whether the
CPB has sufficient mechanical stability is dependent on how
much strength is developed in the CPB during the hardening
process. Hence, the hardening process is important to the
CPB strength gain. During the hardening of CPB, a chemical
reaction between the binder and water takes place to produce
hydration products. These products are adhesive and can
provide bonding between tailings particles, thus increasing
the strength of CPB. The underground circumstance provides
a natural curing environment (mainly includes the ambient
temperature and humidity) for the hardening of CPB
(namely, the process of binder hydration). The CPB water
content is important to the hardening of CPB because water
takes part in the process of binder hydration. The water con-
tent is closely related to curing humidity. For instance, a dry
environment with low curing humidity can lead to CPB wa-
ter evaporation.
Several researchers carried out significant studies for un-
derstanding the influence of curing conditions on the per-
formance of CPB. For instance, Walske et al. [17] carried out

Corresponding author: Di Wu E-mail: ustb_wudi@hotmail.com

© University of Science and Technology Beijing and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
2 Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater.
a laboratory experiment to evaluate the effect of curing tem-
perature on the mechanical behaviors of CPB. They use a
temperature control system to improve a hydration cell,
which could mimic in situ curing conditions. The results of
their study showed that high curing temperatures were able to
facilitate the generation of effective stress. Fall and Pokharel
[18] applied an experimental approach to indicate the influ-
ence of temperature (curing temperatures of 0, 25, 20, 35, and
50°C were selected) on the development of strength and mi-
crostructure of hardened CPBs. Furthermore, Fall et al. [19]
conducted an experimental study to reveal the effect of cur-
ing temperature (2, 20, 35, and 50°C were used) and com-
bined influence of temperature and CPB composition on the
primary mechanical parameters (strength, modulus of elasti-
city, and stress–strain relation) of CPB. They demonstrated
that the effect of temperature on the mechanical performance
of CPB also depended on the tailings type, binder type, ratio
of water to binder, and curing time. In consideration of ex-
treme cases, Fall and Samb [20] conducted a range of experi-
mental programs to investigate the impact of high curing
temperatures (100, 200, 400, and 600°C were selected) on
mechanical strength and microstructure of CPB. They found
that elevated temperatures up to 200°C improved the strength
of most types of the CPB studied, but when the curing tem-
perature is above 200°C, the strength of CPB is reduced. The
decrease of the CPB strength was associated with a remark-
able change in the microstructure. Moreover, Fall and Samb
[21] performed an experimental study to assess the influence
of curing temperature and exceptional thermal loads on the
pore structure of CPB. The obtained results of their research
showed that when curing temperature was up to 50°C, the
pore structure of CPB was refined, while a heating temperat-
ure of above 400°C led to the deterioration of the microstruc-
ture of CPB. Considering unusually low curing temperature
situation, Jiang et al. [22] carried out an experimental study
to investigate the influence of sub-zero environmental tem-
peratures (–1, –6, and –12°C) on the yield stress of CPB and
its evolution with time. They indicated that the sub-zero tem-
peratures were to the detriment of the yield stress develop-
ment in CPB.
In addition to curing temperature, some other curing con-
ditions were also discussed in some previous studies, such as
curing time and curing stress. For instance, Huang
et al. [23] used an experimental study to analyze the com-
pressive strength of CPB under dynamic loading. They found
that the dynamic strength of CPB increased with the curing
time when the same cement content was used in CPB. By
taking advantage of an improved lab apparatus called
CUAPS (curing under applied pressure system), Yilmaz et
al. [24] experimentally investigated the curing time effect of
various binder types and contents on the one-dimensional
consolidation behavior of CPB samples. Yilmaz et al. [25]
also used CUAPS to analyze the effect of curing stress on the
geotechnical and hydromechanical characteristics of CPB
specimens. Their study revealed that the compressive
strength of unconsolidated and undrained CPB sample was
lower than that of consolidated and drained one. Moreover,
CUAPS was further used to investigate the influences of cur-
ing and stress conditions on geochemical characteristics of
CPB [26]. In their study, they found that the addition of stress
during curing could positively promote the hardening of CPB
and thus the mechanical performance of CPB due to the re-
moving of water by consolidation.
Some previous studies have been reported to analyze the
effect of curing humidity on the mechanical behavior of con-
crete. For instance, the test results of Cebeci [27] revealed
that the compressive strength of concrete declined as curing
humidity is reduced. The elastic modulus of concrete struc-
tures is also reduced when they were subjected to decreased
curing humidity [28–29]. Several researchers concluded that
concrete was sensitive to curing humidity since the drying
shrinkage of concrete varied significantly when concrete
structures were exposed to different curing humidity [30–31].
Although several previous studies, as discussed above,
were conducted to investigate and describe the effect of cur-
ing conditions on performance of CPB, relevant studies are
still very limited. Although CPB and concrete are similar
since they are both cement-based materials, there are still
some differences between them, such as compositions and
application conditions. Furthermore, no studies have been
carried out to investigate the response of CPB to (curing) hu-
midity so far. Taken these limitations into account, the au-
thors feel it significant to commence this study. It aims to as-
sess the influence of curing humidity on the performances of
CPB, including thermal, hydraulic, and mechanical behavi-
ors, by conducting a series of laboratory programs incorpor-
ating the tests of temperature development, internal relative
humidity evolution, stress–strain relationship, and micro-
structure of CPB.
2. Experimental
2.1. Materials
The tailings used in the current study were obtained from
an iron mine located in Western China’s high-altitude area.
This iron mine’s surface ambient temperature was approxim-
ately 10°C, and the lowest humidity was about 45%. Ordin-
ary Portland cement 425# bought from the market is used as
the binder, and water from a nearby tap was used.
Since the physical and chemical characteristics of the
tailings exert significant influence on the CPB properties, a
series of laboratory tests were conducted on the tailings. The
bulk density of the tailings is 2.77 g/cm3. Fig. 1 shows the
particle size composition of the tailings used. It can be found
from Fig. 1 that the tailings used can be regarded as medium
tailings. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results are presented in
D. Wu et al., Effect of curing humidity on performance of cemented paste backfill 3

Fig. 2, which shows that the main mineral constituents of the ence of curing humidity on the behavior of CPB.
tailings are quartz, dolomite, and hematite. The tailings, binder, and water were mixed homogen-
eously in a mixer, afterwards, they were poured into curing
100 molds with a dimension of 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm in
length × width × height to form cubic specimens. It should be
Cumulative volume percent / %

80
pointed out that, the curing molds had been brushed with lub-
ricating oil, to facilitate the removal of CPB samples from the
molds when the curing age (28 d) was completed. The CPB
60
samples tested (along with the molds holding them) were
placed in a standard curing chamber (type: YH-40B).
40
For each group of CPB samples, four CPBs were pre-
pared and placed in the chamber with a curing temperature of
20
10°C and curing humidity of 45% and 95% for 28 d. During
this period, one of the four CPBs was subjected to the invest-
0 igation of the evolutions of temperature and internal relative
0.2 0.7 2 8 25 120 450
Grain size / μm humidity versus time. A temperature and humidity measure-
Fig. 1.    Particle size distribution of the tailings used. ment system (Fig. 3) was used for monitoring and recording
the data. As shown in Fig. 3, the temperature and humidity
probe (with a dimension of 3 cm × ϕ1.1 cm in height × diameter)
was inserted into the CPB to monitor its temperature variation
and internal relative humidity evolution with curing age. A
PVC pipe was used to fitly wrap the probe to protect the
Intensity / a.u.

probe from being destroyed during CPB’s hardening. Twelve

holes in the PVC pipe were punched to obtain CPB speci-
men temperature and humidity data conveniently, as shown
Fe2O3
in the Fig. 4. The probe was placed in the center of the CPB
SiO2 specimen together with the PVC pipe to collect the data
CaMg(CO3)2 in the CPB experiment, and the test method can be seen
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 in Fig. 5.
2θ / (°)
After the process of 28 d, the other three of the four CPBs
Fig. 2.    XRD profiles of the tailings used.
were subjected to mechanical tests for obtaining the
stress–strain relationships, and the average value was used.
2.2. Testing methods
The mechanical tests were conducted by a piece of testing
According to the actual situation of the mine, four groups equipment (type: YAW-600), which could provide a maxim-
of CPB samples with various solid contents and binder-to- um load of 600 kN and output the stress–strain relations for
tailings mass ratios (b/t) were selected to conduct relevant the CPB specimens tested. The compressive load rate of the
tests. Table 1 shows the CPB samples subjected to different testing apparatus for rock mechanics was set as constant
curing conditions. It should be stated that all the CPB (2 mm/min).
samples were cured at the temperature of 10°C, which is to To further analyze the microstructural properties of the
mimic in situ thermal conditions. The humidity of 45% CPB, scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses were
(chosen for providing extreme low humidity condition that carried out on the CPB specimens after the mechanical tests.
applies to the mine) and 95% (a standard humidity condition Fig. 6 shows the complete experimental method.
according to GB/T50081—2002 [32]) were selected for the
curing of the CPB samples while aiming to discuss the influ- 3. Results and discussion
Table 1.    Groups of the CPB samples tested
Group Solid content / wt% b/t Curing age / d Curing temperature / °C Curing humidity / %
1 72 1/8 28 10 45
2 72 1/8 28 10 95
3 74 1/10 28 10 45
4 74 1/10 28 10 95
4 Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater.

3.1. Evolution of internal relative humidity of CPB
Temperature and
humidity probe Data collection module Fig. 7 illustrates the evolution of the internal relative hu-
midity of the CPB samples (Groups 1–4) versus curing time
(28 d). As shown in Fig. 7, for example, Group 1 denotes that
the solid content of CPB is 72wt%, the binder-to-tailings ra-
tio (b/t) is 1/8, and the curing humidity is 45%. Fig. 7 reveals
Data conversion module
that curing humidity significantly affects the relative humid-
ity inside the CPB. As predicted, the composition of CPB’s
solids (or water content) also clearly affects its internal relat-
Fig. 3.    Temperature and humidity measurement system used
for tests. ive humidity.
As shown in Fig. 8, the evolution of internal relative hu-
midity of CPB versus curing time can be broadly divided in-
to three stages, which are the saturation stage, sharp decline
stage, and stable stage.
In the saturation stage, there is sufficient water involved
Fig. 4.    PVC pipe with 12 holes. in the binder hydration cycle (OA in Fig. 8), and the effect of
curing humidity on CPB’s internal relative humidity is quite
Data measurement system
minimal during this point. However, when it comes to the
sharp decline stage (AB in Fig. 8), massive water is con-
Data recording system sumed because water acts as a reactant, takes part in the bind-
er hydration process. Large consumption of water results in a
distinct moisture gradient between the CPB and its curing
T H
ambient, thereby causing a moisture exchange in between.
t t Therefore, the CPB cured with a higher curing humidity can
CPB acquire more moisture from the curing ambient, leading to a
PVC pipe
higher internal relative humidity in the CPB. This is why a
Curing chamber Temperature and humidity probe
higher CPB’s internal relative humidity is associated with a
Fig. 5.    Schematic diagram of the method for monitoring tem-
perature and humidity of CPB. higher curing humidity.

Curing chamber

10°C 28 d
CPB CPB CPB
45%；95%

Mechanical test

Sampling

SEM test

Fig. 6.    Schematic diagram of the complete experimental procedure.
D. Wu et al., Effect of curing humidity on performance of cemented paste backfill 5

100 Group 1 3.2. Evolution of temperature development in CPB

Group 2
95 Group 3
Group 4 Fig. 9 demonstrates the development of temperature
Relative humidity / %

within the CPB specimens versus curing time. From this fig-
90
ure, it can be found that the curing humidity certainly poses
85 an impact on the temperature development of CPB.
However, this influence is not as significant as one of the cur-
80 ing humidity on the internal relative humidity of CPB. This is
due to the fact that the curing humidity directly affects the
75
humidity of CPB by moisture exchange, while the curing hu-
70 midity indirectly influences the temperature of CPB by exert-
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time / d
ing an effect on the binder hydration, which is an exothermic
reaction.
Fig.  7.      Evolution  of  internal  relative  humidity  of  CPB  with
curing time.
11.6
Group 1
Group 2
Saturation stage 11.3
Sharp decline stage Group 3
Group 4
Relative humidity / %

Stable stage
11.0
Temperature / °C

10.7

10.4

0 5 10 15
O A
Time / d
Fig. 8.    Evolutional stages of internal relative humidity of CPB
with curing time.
Afterward, the content of water stays roughly the same in
the stable stage (BC in Fig. 8). Given that the process of
binder hydration has nearly ceased, and the pores within CPB
have been filled with hydration products in the later stage of
reaction. As a result, the blockage of water flow passage pre-
vents the exchange of moisture between the CPB and its sur-
rounding ambient.
The starting and ending moment of the three stages are
also closely related to the curing humidity. It’s visible from
Fig. 7 increasing the curing humidity can lead to delays at the
beginning of a sharp decline. This finding can provide prac-
tical information that is very significant. Due to the produc-
tion of hydration products and their bonding effect, CPB’s
strength develops in the rapid decline stage. A rapid strength
gain in the CPB structure in situ is commonly required since
it is directly relevant to the efficiency of production, and thus
operational cost. Therefore, some solutions should be adop-
ted if the on-site ambient humidity is unsatisfactorily high
(such as the field conditions of the mine mentioned above
who provides the tailings tested), for instance, local ventila-
tion can be deployed near the CPB to lower the ambient hu-
midity.
10.1
20 25 30
B C 9.8
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time / d
Fig. 9.    Temperature development in CPB with curing time.
From Fig. 9 it is noticed that there is a remarkable tem-
perature elevation in the CPB during the early age (0–3 d) be-
cause a large amount of heat is released by binder hydration
in this period. Thereafter, the temperature of CPB begins to
decrease owing to the fact that the progress of binder hydra-
tion retards and the heat accumulated in CPB diffuses to the
surroundings (because of the temperature difference) until a
thermal balance is attained between the CPB and ambient.
Then the temperature of CPB almost remains unchanged and
close to the ambient temperature. Generally, a higher curing
humidity can slightly increase the temperature of CPB, ex-
cept for some incongruence that may be ascribed to varied
curing conditions and the water-to-binder ratio of CPB used.
As discussed above, raising the ambient humidity can also in-
crease the moisture within CPB. Therefore, more content of
water participates in the binder hydration process, and thus
more heat can be generated to motivate the development of
temperature in CPB.
3.3. Stress–strain relationship of CPB
The stress–strain relationships of the checked CPB speci-
mens and uniaxial compressive strengths are shown in Figs.
10 and Fig. 11, respectively. It can be seen from these two
6 Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater.

figures that a higher curing humidity can lead to a higher the CPB samples according to SEM tests.
peak value of the total stress developing in CPB. This is be- The results of EDS analysis demonstrate the components
cause, based on the above discussions, increasing the curing of binder hydration products, and the SEM testing outcomes
humidity will increase both the water content and temperat- can present the micromorphology of hydration products. It
ure of CPB. As a result, more water reacts with the binder to can be found that a large amount of mCaO·nSiO2·xH2O (or
form hydration products, which are crucial to the strength de- C–S–H in abbreviation), which shows clusters like distribu-
velopment in CPB. Besides, the temperature rise in the CPB tion, forms and compactly wraps around Ca(OH)2 (it is dis-
can also accelerate the binder hydration process to generate tributed flakily) to form a relatively dense structure, contrib-
hydration products. uting to the strength development in CPB. It is noticed from
Fig. 13 that, the CPB samples cured with a higher ambient
1.4 humidity can have a denser microstructure. The reason has
Group 1
Group 2 been explained above, that a higher curing humidity signifies
1.2 Group 3 more content of water reacted, and thus more heat can be
Group 4
1.0 produced to increase the temperature of CPB.
Stress / MPa

0.8
1.3 Si
0.6
Intensity / (103 counts) 1.1
0.4
0.8
0.2

0 0.5
Ca
0 0.005 0.010 0.015 0.020 0.025
Strain
0.3 Fe
Fig. 10.    Stress–strain relationships of the CPB specimens tested. OAl
Mg K
From Fig. 10, it may also be found that, in Groups 3 and 0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
4 CPB samples, where the strain is less than 0.01, the stress in Energy / keV
Group 3 CPB (with lower curing humidity) is higher than in Fig. 12.    X-ray EDS analysis result of CPB.
Group 4. The reason may be because, in this stage of com-
pressive deformation, the CPB skeleton bears the compres- 4. Conclusions
sion. When the strain reaches 0.01, the stress in Group 4’s
CPB steadily exceeds Group 3’s stress. It is because the com- Comprehensive laboratory experiments are conducted to
pressive load is caused by pore water. assess the influence of curing humidity on the internal relat-
ive humidity, temperature, and stress–strain relationship of
CPB. Furthermore, the cause for the responding behavior of
Uniaxial compressive strength / MPa

1.4 Specimen 2 Specimen 3

Specimen 1
Specimen 3
Curing humidity CPB to different ambient humidity is attempted to interpret
Specimen 2
1.2 Specimen 1 95%
45% from a microscopic viewpoint. Based on the obtained results,
1.0
the following conclusions can be drawn.
0.8 (1) A higher curing humidity is associated with a higher
0.6
Specimen 1 Specimen 2 Specimen 3
Specimen 3
internal relative humidity in the CPB. However, an improp-
Specimen 2
Specimen 1
erly high ambient humidity poses an adverse effect on the
0.4
quick gain of strength in the CPB.
0.2 (2) Increasing curing humidity helps the binder hydra-
0 tion cycle and thus increases temperature and improves peak
Group 1 versus Group 2 Group 3 versus Group 4
stress in the CPB.
Fig.  11.      Effect  of  curing  humidity  on  uniaxial  compressive (3) Raising the curing humidity can lead to the genera-
strength of the CPB specimens. tion of more hydration products, which thus contribute to a
more compact microstructure of the CPB.
3.4. Microstructural properties of CPB
It should be noted that the structure of in-situ CPB is a
As shown in Fig. 12, an X-ray energy dispersion spec- large mass, so the impact of air humidity can be confined to a
trum (EDS) analysis is conducted on the hydration products thin outer part of the mass of CPB. More studies are there-
of CPB. Furthermore, Fig. 13 displays the microstructure of fore required to be carried out to understand how the level of
D. Wu et al., Effect of curing humidity on performance of cemented paste backfill 7

(a) (b)

Ca(OH)2

Ca(OH)2

Porosity Porosity
C−S−H

C−S−H

50 μm 50 μm

(c) (d)
Porosity

Porosity
Ca(OH)2
C−S−H

Ca(OH)2
C−S−H

50 μm 50 μm
Fig. 13.    SEM micrograph of the CPB samples: (a) Group 1; (b) Group 2; (c) Group 3; (d) Group 4.

field humidity will affect the performance of in-situ CPB in
the future.
Acknowledgements
The financial support from Yue Qi Young Scholar
Project, China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing
is highly acknowledged. The authors would also like to thank
China Scholarship Council and BGRIMM Technology
Group.
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