Dam break assessment (DBA) is widely used to estimate the potential impacts of an eventual dam failure on its downstream area, including the extent, depths, velocities, and arrival times of the flood.
This assessment relies on various key parameters, including the volume released, characteristics of the outflow hydrograph (comprising peak flow and time to peak), and the rheological properties of the released fluid.
There are several authors who have attempted to refine empirical relationships for the outflow hydrograph stemming from historical dam failures; however, most of these efforts have focused solely on clean water discharge, neglecting sediments. This narrow scope limits their relevance to tailings DBA, as tailings, unlike water, possess non‐Newtonian fluid properties. Consequently, the empirical relationships exhibit distinctive rheological characteristics that differentiate their behavior.
This work explores the applicability of three commonly used empirical relationships for outflow hydrographs applied to water dam failures, now adapted for a past tailings dam break scenario, while conducting a sensitivity analysis incorporating variations in the extent of the flood footprint, utilizing tailingsʹ rheological parameters.
The analysis employed industry‐standard 2D modeling software (HEC‐RAS) with the objective of shedding light on the intricacies of tailings Dam Break Analysis (DBA) and the challenges associated with defining its inputs.
