Effects of Aeolian Sand and Water-Cement Ratio on Performance of a Novel Mine Backfill Material

The gob-side entry retaining (GER) technique, as the family member of the pillarless coal mining system, is becoming popular, mainly attributed to its high resource recovery rate and significant environmental benefits. Seeking cost-effective backfill material to develop the roadside backfilling body (RBB) is generally a hot topic for coal operators and scholars. Except for its relatively high cost, the other shortcoming of the widely used high-water backfill material is also obvious when used in arid, semi-arid deserts or Gobi mining areas lacking water. The modified high-water backfill material (MBM) mixed with aeolian sand was recently developed as an alternative to conventional backfill materials. Some critical parameters affecting both the physical and mechanical properties of the MBM, including the amount of the aeolian sand and water-to-powder ratio of the high water-content material, have been experimentally investigated in the present research. Test results showed that the MBM featured high early strength and bearing capability after a large post-peak deformation. In particular, the adjustable setting time of the MBM through changing the amount of sand widens its application in practice. Unlike the high-water backfill material, the MBM is a typical elastoplastic material; the stress-strain curves consist of pore compression, elastic deformation, yielding, and total failure. Note that both the peak and residual strength of the MBM increased as the doping amount of aeolian sand increased, which is probably because of the impacted aeolian sand and the uniform reticular structure of the ettringite in the MBM. Compared with the high-water backfill material, only limited cementitious material and water resources are requested to cast the RBB, which provides more economical and environmental benefits for the application of the GER technique in the arid, semi-arid deserts or the Gobi mining areas.