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Rock Mechanics.pdf - Mining and Blasting

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PERIMETER BLASTING<br />

Prior to excavation of any material within the prospective final surface of the heading,<br />

charges in the perimeter holes are detonated nearly simultaneously. If hole spacings are<br />

sufficiently small, the explosive charges adequate, <strong>and</strong> the geomechanical conditions<br />

satisfactory, a fracture surface is developed over the smooth surface containing the<br />

axes of the blast holes.<br />

An underst<strong>and</strong>ing of the mechanics of pre-split blasting is necessary to assure<br />

its successful implementation. A useful insight into pre-split mechanics is provided<br />

by Kutter <strong>and</strong> Fairhurst (1968). Fracture development along the centreline between<br />

adjacent blast holes is the result of interaction of detonation in one blast hole with<br />

the local stress field produced by explosive action in an adjacent hole. Kutter <strong>and</strong><br />

Fairhurst demonstrate that fracture development does not occur when either there is<br />

very long delay between the initiation of adjacent holes (i.e. the charges detonate<br />

independently), or when adjacent blast holes initiate simultaneously. For the sake of<br />

clarity, in the following discussion, two blast holes, A <strong>and</strong> B, are considered, with<br />

hole A initiated prior to hole B. The rock medium is stress free.<br />

Consider the case where hole B initiates as the stress wave emitted from hole A<br />

passes over it, as illustrated in Figure 17.8b. The transient local stress field around<br />

hole B is effectively uniaxial, of magnitude pd, <strong>and</strong> oriented parallel to the centreline<br />

of the holes. Since the wavelength of the pulse is relatively long with respect to hole<br />

diameter, the transient stress concentrations around hole B can be estimated from the<br />

Kirsch equations. At points I <strong>and</strong> II on the hole boundary, the boundary stress is<br />

<strong>and</strong> at positions III <strong>and</strong> IV, it is given by<br />

=−pd<br />

= 3pd<br />

Emission of the stress wave by detonation of hole B, <strong>and</strong> superposition on the transient<br />

boundary stresses, result in tensile stresses which are greatest at points I <strong>and</strong> II, <strong>and</strong><br />

least at points III <strong>and</strong> IV. Radial cracks therefore initiate preferentially at points I <strong>and</strong><br />

II (i.e. in the centreline direction). The effect of gas pressure in B is to promote the<br />

development of the initially longest cracks, i.e. those in the centreline direction.<br />

A second feasible method for pre-splitting involves the initiation of hole B while<br />

quasi-static pressure operates in hole A. Suppose gas pressure in hole A produces<br />

a local biaxial stress field for hole B defined by components p1 <strong>and</strong> p2, oriented<br />

as shown in Figure 17.8c. A pressurised hole produces a local biaxial stress field<br />

approximated by<br />

p2 =−p1<br />

At points I <strong>and</strong> II on the hole boundary, the circumferential stress component is<br />

estimated from the Kirsch equations to be<br />

<strong>and</strong> at points III <strong>and</strong> IV, to be<br />

529<br />

=−4p1<br />

= 4p1

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