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By Paul N. Worsey

Disturbed zones of rock have been measured for blasted highway rock cuttings by Matheson and Swindells of the Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL) of Great Britain. These zones have been shown to be directly attributable to the blasting process and accordingly vary in depth depending on blasting technique. Perimeter blasting such as smoothwalling and pre-splitting has been shown to be effective in reducing the depth of disturbed rock. Although extensive work has been carried out on surface excavations for medium diameter (l00mm) blast holes, none has been undertaken for underground excavations.

Jan 1, 1985

By Walt Meglasson

"Developing technologies in demolition equipment and processes have produced a newsophistication within the demolition industry. Yet, with increasing frequency, owners,architects, engineers, and contractors reject out of hand one of the safest and most effectivetools in the demolition industry today, specifically the use of explosives and blastingtechniques in man_made structure removal. The use of explosives in any application mustbe considered as a tool, no more or less dangerous than any other type of tool, when usedproperly. Accordingly, importance must be attached to recognizing the skill, integrity, andcare of those who use it. Massive amounts of information and help are available to assistthe rock blaster, ranging from the practical to the highly theoretical, but very littleinformation exists to guide anyone considering unleashing the power of explosives instructural demolition blasting. The planning and work required to execute such projects iscomplex, and the recognition of the different applications explosives can be applied to isthe first step."

Jan 1, 1993

By Claude Cunningham

AEL’s Electronic Delay Detonators are in routine use and growing in both volume and breadth of application in Africa. This trend will continue and grow internationally owing to increasing pressure on rockbreaking operations to conform to sustainable development principles. A fundamental breakthrough has been achieved, bringing production blasting into line with technologies, which leverage performance through tight monitoring and control. When moving from pyrotechnic systems, benefits are normally realized without having to adopt different timing patterns, but significant additional benefits are realisable by using the flexibility and precision of the electronic units to enter windows of timing previously closed. The higher price and increased care needed are a worthwhile investment, enabling operations to cross the chasm to stronger revenues, but the system must be robust and suited to the application and personnel. Economic models are vital for keeping track of the potential and achieved benefits of these systems. Some resistance can be expected from those who stand to lose income as a result of the improved efficiencies.

Jan 1, 2004

By D Frantzos

Pressure time histories were recorded for low density ammonium nitrate/fuel oil, detonated in long heavy walled steel cannons of various bores. These were shell used in a finite element model of a horizontally layered limestone rock mass to predict the crack propagation limits in presplit blasting for a range of borehole diameters. Apart from showing very good agreement with field results, the model clearly demonstrated the strong dependence of the results on the pressure-time curve. The important elements were the peak pressure, the rise time to it and its duration. Control of these characteristics offers the possible future production of more ideally suited pressure-time profiles for the optimization of crack propagation distances and borehole spacings for various ground conditions. Also the results to date provide the basis for investigating the characteristics of the explosives presently used in presplit blasting, and finding ways to modify them with the purpose of optimizing the field results.

Jan 1, 1987

By F O. Otuonye

Full-face blasts were fired in a 12 x 8 ft drift of an underground hardrock mine in a basalt formation with porphyry copper to study the effects of drill pattern and explosive type on the size distribution of the resulting muckpile. Each muckpile produced by five full-face blasts was sampled four times with a scooptram equipped with a 5-cu yd bucket and the size distribution of the broken rock in each bucket was determined by screen analysis. Results show a strong dependence of the fragment size distribution of muckpile on the blast pattern and explosive type for a given rock type. The mean fragment size of the broken rock was compared with the predictive equations of other investigators. Random sampling of the muckpile from full-scale blasts and screen analyses of the samples are recommended in assessing the size distribution of the broken rock because of scaling errors that are inherent in full-scale blasts when designed from results of small-scale tests.

Jan 1, 1985

By D Vrkljan, Z Ester

There was no use of emulsion explosive at Croatia till 1997. Several attempts have been done to bear out the economical and technological affordability of applying the emulsion explosive for open pits and to make the contractor familiar with characteristics of emulsion explosive exepiting experimental blasts series at more open pits on different kinds of rocks. Testing the efficiencies of emulsion explosive there has been applied the original method for linear enlargement of burden of Sc.D. Josip Krsnik’s from Mining, Geology & Oil Faculty, University at Zagreb. The method of linear burden’s enlargement, in distinction from other methods concerning these problems, has been carried out in situ, under real exploitation conditions whereas the physical-mechanical rock’s features, geological conditions, bed relations and rocks’ structure influence the blast efficiencies. On such way, by mean of method the precise boring and blast sizes will be reached for each kind of rock and geological structural bed’s conditions referring to specific explosive type. The technical-economical analysis indicates the most favorable explosive type for specific bed.

Jan 1, 1999

Vibrations are of concern not only for the safety of surface structures but also for the stability of underground openings. A number of parameters affect the intensity of vibration in underground openings due to blasting in adjacent opencast mine viz. total explosive weight detonated in a round, maximum explosive weight per delay, propagating media, depth of cover, RMR of the roof rock, age of the underground openings etc. Although a few researchers have tried to study the impact of parameters stated above, the impact of initiation sequences on generation of vibration in underground openings due to opencast blasting has yet remained untouched. A study was planned to evaluate the impact of initiation sequences on the magnitude of vibration in underground openings due to blasting in opencast mine. Nine production blasts with top and bottom initiations were performed at Samleshwari opencast project in India and eighteen vibration data were monitored in the roof of Hingir Rampur underground colliery in both the initiation sequences. The result indicated that the vibration produced in the underground openings from bottom initiation was lower than that of top initiation.

Jan 1, 2003

By P. Katsabanis

Researchers in the field of blasting have been trying to develop ways of predicting fragmentation in the last few decades. The Kuznetsov equation estimates the average fragment size, XJ~, based on explosive energy and powder factors. Cunningham calculates the uniformity of a fragment size distribution using drilling accuracy, blast geometry and a rock factor A associated with a “blastability index”, which can be estimated from the jointing, density and hardness of the blasted rock mass. Knowing the mean size and the uniformity index, a Rosin-Rammler distribution equation can then be derived for calculating the fragment size distribution in a blasted muckpile. Analysis of existing data has revealed serious discrepancies between actual and calculated uniformity indices. The current integrated approach combines the Kuznetsov or similar equation and a comminution concept like the Bond Index equation to enable the estimation of both the 50% and SOoh passing sizes (X& and X& ). By substituting these two passing sizes into the Rosin-Rammler equation, the characteristic size (Xc ) and the uniformity index (n) can be obtained to allow the calculation of various fragment sizes in a given blast. The effectiveness of this new fragmentation prediction approach has been tested using sieved data from small-scale bench blasts, available in the literature. This paper will cover all tested results and a discussion on the discrepancy between measurement and prediction due to possible energy loss during blasting.

Jan 1, 2001

By James Ludwiczak

This paper consists of the conduct of a forensic criminal investigation of the components, construction, use, and functioning of two suicide bombs. As the title states, the task was to form professional opinions as to whether the bombs would work, would cause property damage, and would injure or kill. The bombs were created and installed by a defendant in a Federal death penalty case where the defendant’s daughter was killed in a shootout with the West Virginia State Police. The two black powder bombs were placed under the front seats of the defendant’s automobile and were designed to function by the use of a toggle switch connected to the automobile’s cigarette lighter. The forensic work first consisted of an inspection of the remains of the wiring system and bombs at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Laboratory, in Ammendale, MD. This was necessary to determine and detail the wire diameter and lengths, the lengths and size of the wire used, the type of toggle switch used, the type of containers, the type of rocket motors used to initiate the black powder, the manufacturer and amount of black powder used in each bomb, and the type, wraps, and amount of duct tape used for the construction of each bomb. Using this data, tests were conducted by duplicating the wiring system and the two bombs to insure that the system functioned properly. Each bomb was duplicated and initiated to observe the violence produced when initiated in the open air. Duplicate bombs were placed under the seats of a similar type of automobile and initiated. The purposes of the tests were to duplicate the bombs, to observe the violence of the initiation, and to observe the damages to the automobile produced by the initiation.

Jan 1, 2007

By Shawn Kirkpatrick, Yang Ruilin, Tamara Whitaker

In order to manage blast vibration in soft ground containing large diameter holes and large charge weights, a number of issues must be considered. This paper describes techniques to control and reduce near-field blast vibrations absorbed by highwalls in soft ground. Sympathetic detonations need to be controlled. Sympathetic detonations can cause excessive vibration due to an unknown number of charge weights firing out of sequence. The excessive vibration can cause damage to the ground. Sympathetic detonations can be controlled through proper design of blast patterns and, in some cases, through the use of specialized electronic detonators.

Jan 1, 2009