Reduced hydraulic model of Forquilha IV tailings dam

This paper presents the development of a reduced hydraulic model (RHM) for the outflow operating system at the Forquilha IV (scale 1:10) tailings dam, owned by Vale S.A. The studies were performed by Centro de Pesquisas Hidraulicas e Recursos Hidricos (CPH) of Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) and the company Vogbr Recursos Hidricos & Geotecnia Ltda. We present here a brief description of the model construction and the test battery set for the structure’s hydraulic analysis. RHM involves the hillside culvert, the dissipation box and the exit to the restitution tunnel. The RHM project represents an essential step in the first analysis of the hydraulic behavior of the prototype, considering the designed flood station (ten thousand-year flood flow), as well as the analysis of its operation with more frequent flows.