Rock Excavation

Engineering
MND400

Indian Institute of Technology (ISM) Dhanbad

 Blast design
The aim of a blast design is to use explosive energy to break rock masses into
sizes and shapes that can facilitate subsequent operations
• In design of blasting, the controllable parameters are classified in the
following groups:
• Geometric (Diameter, charge length, burden, spacing, etc.).
• Physicochemical or pertaining to explosives (Types of explosives, strength, energy,
priming systems, etc.).
• Time (Delay timing and initiation sequence).
 Blast design
Geometric Parameters
• Height of bench
• Blast hole diameter
• Drilled length of blast hole
• Diameter of explosive charge
• Burden
• Spacing
• Stemming length
• Sub grade drilling
• Charge length.
 Blast design
BLASTHOLE DIAMETER
• Several factors are required to be considered while choosing the appropriate
diameter for blast holes.
• The desired diameter of the blast holes in large surface mining operations is
decided mainly by considering the following factors.
• Properties of the rock mass to be blasted.
• Degree of fragmentation required.
• Height of bench and configuration of charges.
• Costs of drilling and blasting.
• Capacity of the loading equipment.
 Blast design
BLASTHOLE DIAMETER
• Diameter of the holes is small, the costs of drilling, priming and initiation are
high and charging, stemming and connection take a lot of time and labor.
• Diameter is very small, the only advantage is a lower powder factor due to a more
optimum distribution of the explosive.
• With the large diameters, the drilling pattern will be correspondingly large.
• If the joints and discontinuities are widely separated and form blocks in situ, the
size distribution obtained could well be unacceptable.
• In above cases it is recommended that the spacing between blast holes be smaller
than the mean separation between discontinuities.
• This also applies if the area to be blasted is made up of an elasto-plastic matrix
which covers blocks of sound rock which cannot be easily fragmented.
 Blast design
BLASTHOLE DIAMETER
Advantages of large diameter holes.
• Higher detonation velocity which gives more stability and is less influenced
by external conditions.
• Lower overall costs of drilling and blasting.
• Possible mechanization of the explosive charge.
• Higher drilling productivity.
 Blast design
BLASTHOLE DIAMETER
• In surface blasts, the diameters cover a wide range which goes from 50 mm
up to 380 mm.
• In civil engineering, it is around 50 to 125 mm,
• Mining it may go up to 165 and 310 mm.
• In underground operations, blast hole diameter size is limited
• In metal mining have values between 125 and 220 mm been used.
• In tunnel and drift driving the range goes from 32 mm to 64 mm.
• With reference to loading equipment, it is necessary to maintain a balance
between their dimensions, the drilling diameters and haulage capacity.
 Blast design
HEIGHT OF BENCH
• It mainly depends on one of the three alternatives which are used for the
removal of material.
• Combination of Shovel and Dumper
• Walking Dragline.
• Combination of Wheel Loader and Dumper
• If the H/B ratio is large, it is easy to displace and deform rock, especially at
the bench center.
• The stiffness of the parallelepiped of rock located in front of the blast holes
exerts great influence on the results of blasting.
 Blast design
HEIGHT OF BENCH
• If H/B = 1, the fragments will be large, with over break and toe problems.
• With H/B = 2, these problems are attenuated and are completely eliminated
with H/B ≥ 3.
• The condition HIB ≥ 3 is usually found in quarries and coal mining
operations.
• In metal mining the bench height is conditioned by:
• The reach of the loading machine and,
• The dilution of the mineral.
 Blast design
BLASTHOLE INCLINATION
• In bench blasting, inclined drilling gives numerous benefits as well as a few
disadvantages.
• The benefits of inclined drilling are
• Better fragmentation, displacement and swelling of the muck pile, as the burden B value is
kept more uniform along the length of the blast hole.
• Less probability of misfire caused by cutoff from burden movement.
• Smoother and sounder slopes in the newly created benches.
• Higher productivity of front end loaders due to more swelling and lower height of the muck-
pile.
• Less sub-drilling and better use of the explosive energy, with the consequent lower vibration
level.
• Lower powder factor as the shock wave is reflected more efficiently in the bench toe and the
possibility of increasing burden size with less risk of toe appearance.
• In coal mining there is no over crushing of the mineral when blasting waste.
• Increased drilling production per unit of volume displaced
Blast design
BLASTHOLE INCLINATION
• The disadvantages are
• Increased deviation when drilling long blast holes.
• Increased drilling length.
• Difficulty in positioning of the drills and in collaring operations.
• Necessity of close supervision which creates work lapses.
• Lower drill feed which means that in hard rock the penetration rate is limited in direct
proportion to the angle of inclination of the mast.
• More wear on the bits, drill steel and stabilizers.
• Less mechanical availability of the drilling rig due to mast fatigue and wear on the
transition system.
• Less productivity with rope shovels due to lower height of the muckpile.
• Poorer flushing of drill cuttings due to friction forces, requiring an increase in airflow.
• Problems in charging the explosive, especially in blastholes with water
 Blast design
STEMMING LENGTH
• Stemming is the portion of blast hole which has been packed with inert material
above the charge so as to confine and retain the gases produced by the explosion,
thus improving the fragmentation process
• If stemming is insufficient, there will be a premature escape of the gases into the
atmosphere which will produce airblast and danger of flyrock. On the other hand,
• The stemming is excessive, there will be a large quantity of boulders coming from
the top part of the bench, poor swelling of the muckpile and an elevated vibration
level.
• The following must be taken into consideration to determine stemming:
• The type and size of the material to be used, and
• The length of the stemming column.
• Stemming length of more than 25 D should be maintained in order to avoid
problems of air blast, fly rock, cutoffs, and over break.
 Blast design
SUB-GRADE DRILLING
• Sub-grade drilling (J) is the length of the blas thole underneath the floor
level which is needed to break the rock at bench.
• The value of sub drilling that produces the intersection of the cone shaped
surfaces at bench level is usually around J = 0.3 B.
• To reduce sub drilling, the use of explosives which give a high concentration
of energy per unit of length in the bottom part of the charge and the drilling
inclined blast holes is recommended.
• In horizontal bedding plane coal mining operations, in order to eliminate the
crushing effect of the ends of the charges, instead of sub-grade drilling
primer is placed at 4D from the effective base.
 Blast design
BURDEN AND SPACING
• The burden (B) is the minimum distance from the axis of a blast hole to the
free face, and
• Spacing (S) is the distance between blast holes in the same row.
• These parameters depend basically upon
• The drilling diameter,
• The properties of the rocks and of the explosives,
• The height of the bench and
• The desired degree of fragmentation and displacement.
• Numerous formulas have been suggested to calculate the burden, their
values all fall in the range of 25 to 40 D, depending fundamentally upon the
properties of the rock mass.
 Blast design
BURDEN AND SPACING
• If the burden is excessive, the explosion gases find too much resistance to
effectively fracture and displace the rock and part of the energy becomes seismic
and intensifies the vibrations.
• If the burden is small, the gases escape and expand at high speed towards the free
face, pushing the fragmented rock and projecting it uncontrollably, provoking an
increase in overpressure of the air and noise.
• Spacing value is calculated in function with the burden, the delay timing between
blast holes and the initiation sequence.
• Very small spacing cause excessive crushing between charges and superficial
crater breakage, large blocks in front of the blast holes .
• Excessive spacing between blast holes causes inadequate fracturing between
charges, along with toe problems and an irregular face with overhang in the new
bench.
 Blast design
Relationship between the design parameters
• Spacing – Burden (KS) (1 to 2)
• Burden – Diameter (KB) (20 to 40)
• Sub-grade drill – Burden (KJ) (0.3 min)
• Stemming - Burden (KT) (0.5 to 1) (0.7 average)
• Bench height – Burden (KH) (2.6 average)