Aiming at the problems of large water secretion, poor suspensibility and low strength of cemented aeolian sand (AS)-fly ash (FA) backfill (CAFB) mixtures, CAFB was doped with fine coal gangue (CG) particles crushed to less than 4 mm and configured as cemented aeolian sand-coal gangue-fly ash backfill (CACFB) mixtures, in which coal gangue accounted for 8% of the mass ratio of the slurry. Through UCS and rheological experiments, using the response surface methodology and an orthogonal design, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) With the increase in ordinary Portland cement (PO) and slurry concentration, the UCS of the CACFB increased. (2) With the increase in the FA dosage, the UCS of the CACFB decreased first and then increased due to the gradual increase in FA dosage, destroying the reasonable ratio of the material and leading to the reduction in the material’s UCS, and with the growth in time, the volcanic ash effect of the FA caused the UCS of the material to increase. (3) With the increases in slurry concentration, the yield stress and viscosity coefficient of the slurry increased. (4) Reasonable proportions for CACFB should ensure the strength characteristics and rheological properties of the material. Through theoretical and experimental research, the final reasonable proportions were as follows: the concentrations of slurry, AS, CG, FA and PO were 77.5%, 42%, 8%, 17.5% and 10%, respectively. This ensured that the UCSs of the CACFB at 3 d, 7 d and 28 d were 1.2 MPa, 2.5 MPa and 4.3 MPa, respectively; the yield stress of the CACFB was 495 Pa, and the viscosity coefficient was 3.97 Pa·s. These reasonable proportions of the CACFB can meet the strength index and flow property of material industrial experiments.

The use of cemented Aeolian sand-fly ash backfill (CAFB) material to fill the mining area to improve the surface subsidence damage caused by underground coal mining is in the development stage. Their performance with large overflow water and strength loss is not well understood. Few research has been conducted to understand the effects of aeolian sand and coal gangue on the rheological properties of CAFB with plasticizers. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of a plasticizer on the rheological properties, specifically yield stress and viscosity, of CAFB prepared with aeolian sand and coal gangue. CAFB mixes containing 0%, 0.05%, and 0.1% plasticizers were prepared, and yield stress and viscosity were determined at different intervals. Additional tests, such as thermal analysis and zeta potential analysis, were also conducted. It was found that the rheological properties of CAFB are the comprehensive manifestation of the composite characteristics of various models. Reasonable particle size distribution and less plasticizer can ensure the stability of the slurry structure and reduce the slurry settlement and the risk of pipe blocking. The findings of this study will be beneficial in the design and production of CAFB material.

The use of cemented aeolian sand-fly ash backfill (CAFB) material to fill the mining area to improve the surface subsidence damage caused by underground coal mining is in the development stage. Their performance with large overflow water and strength loss is not well understood. Few research has been conducted to understand the effects of aeolian sand and coal gangue on the rheological properties of CAFB with plasticizers. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effects of a plasticizer on the rheological properties, specifically yield stress and viscosity, of CAFB prepared with aeolian sand and coal gangue. CAFB mixes containing 0%, 0.05%, and 0.1% plasticizer were prepared, and yield stress and viscosity were determined at different time intervals over the period. Additional tests, such as thermal analysis and zeta potential analysis were also conducted. It was found that the rheological properties of CAFB is the comprehensive manifestation of the composite characteristics of various models. Reasonable particle size distribution and less amount of plasticizer can ensure the stability of slurry structure, reduce the slurry settlement and the risk of pipe blocking. The findings of this study will be beneficial in the design and production of CAFB material.

This paper investigates that the influence of the independent variables of particle size of coal gangue (CG), concentration and coal gangue content on the UCS of cemented aeolian sand (AS)-coal gangue-fly ash (FA) backfill (CACFB) mixtures through the thermogravimetric, piezomercurial, microscopic experimental means by adding certain particle size of coal gangue particles in the cemented aeolian sand -fly ash backfill (CAFB) mixtures. Through the relevant experiments, the following conclusions are drawn: 1. with the increasing particle size of CG particles, the UCS of the CACFB is increasing in which the 7d UCS of R-C-1, R-C-2, R-C-3 and R-C-4 were 2.05 MPa, 2.11 MPa, 1.94 MPa and 2.09 MPa, respectively; 2. After 7 days of curing age, the UCS of CACFB is generally 1.5 MPa higher than that of CAFB.; 3. Because CG particles play a role in increasing slurry concentration, compactness and improving particle gradation in CACFB, the UCS of CACFB is much higher than the UCS of CAFB.; 4. The improvement UCS of CACFB will greatly improve the popularization and application of filling mining in northern Shaanxi mining area, and reduce the damage to environmental water resources and land resources in the mining area.