Coupled effect of cement hydration and temperature on rheological properties of fresh cemented tailings backfill slurry

The fluidity of fresh cemented tailings backfill (CTB) slurry depends on its rheological properties. Hence, it is crucial to understand the rheology of fresh CTB slurry, which is related to the cement hydration progress and temperature evolution within CTB mixtures. For this reason, a numerical model was developed to predict the evolution of the rheological properties of fresh CTB slurry under the coupled effect of cement hydration and temperature. Experiments were conducted to investigate the rheological behaviours of the fresh CTB slurry. By comparing the simulated results with the experimental ones, the availability of this developed model was validated. Thereafter, the model was used to demonstrate the coupled effect of cement hydration and temperature on the evolution of fresh CTB slurry's rheological properties, under various conditions (initial CTB temperature, cement to tailings ratio, and water to cement ratio). The obtained results are helpful to better understanding the rheology of CTB slurry.