A Comprehensive Review of Field Vane Shear Testing in Mine Tailings and Recommendations for Tailored Standards
Bibliographic record
Abstract
ABSTRACT Geotechnical site investigations frequently employ the field vane shear test (FVT), in accordance with ASTM D2573/D2573M-18, Standard Test Method for Field Vane Shear Test in Saturated Fine-Grained Soils, to assess in situ soil strength by determining both peak and residual undrained shear strengths. ASTM D2573 is intended specifically for use in saturated natural fine-grained silts and clays, including mine tailings, but excluding materials that are sandy or nonplastic. Experience shows that the test is frequently used in mine tailings where zones of materials may be nonplastic or highly permeable. As noted in the existing standard, partial drainage may occur in these materials during testing, leading to the measurement of a drained or partially drained strength, rather than the intended undrained strength. This article provides a comprehensive review of advancements in FVT research in silty tailings and soils, highlighting the impact of rotation rates on shear strength measurements. The key findings discussed expose the limitations of ASTM D2573, necessitating equipment and procedural modifications for reliable results in nonplastic or permeable mine tailings. This review was intended to initiate a dialogue to reconceptualize how undrained strengths in soil conditions outside the scope of ASTM D2573 may be assessed. The authors believe there is merit in the development of a new or amended ASTM standard to suit the application of intermediate soils and silty mine tailings. Amendments may include the recommendations and findings of the work summarized herein, such as immediate vane rotation upon insertion and varying rotation rates as a function of soil drainage conditions. Establishing standards of practice aligned with a wider range of soil characteristics is essential for accurate geotechnical assessments and mitigating risk in critical infrastructure design such as tailings storage facilities.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.007 | 0.011 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.003 | 0.002 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.009 | 0.007 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.002 | 0.003 |
| Open science | 0.003 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.004 | 0.003 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".