International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering

V. R. Sastry ¹, D. V. Reddy ², G. Raghu Chandra ¹, N. Adithya ¹, S. A. Saiprasad ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Mining Engineering, NITK, Surathkal, Mangalore-575025, IN
2 Department of Civil Engineering, NITK, Surathkal, Mangalore-575025, IN

Abstract

Blasting can be considered as the most crucial process in an opencast mine. It is therefore important for mining engineers to understand the effect of geological discontinuities and blast design parameters on the results of blasting. Bench height and burden are very important parameters affecting stiffness of bench. Joints alter the results of blasting, by making explosive energy utilization ineffective. Modern tools like high speed videography reveal many aspects of fragmentation process, which otherwise are difficult to visualize and understand. An attempt is made through this paper to present some of the research results of model scale studies, coupled with field study results related to bench height and joints in order to improve blast results.

Keywords

Rock Fragmentation, Geological Discontinuities, Bench Height, Burden, Joint Orientation, Gas Energy, Shock Energy, High Speed Videography.

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