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Experimental Investigation of Decoupled Charge Effect on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting

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Abstract

Fragmentation of granite cylinders having a centric charge with different decoupling ratios was investigated in blast experiments. Conclusions are made from studying the post-blast specimens and strain measurement. Eight blasting tests were carried out on granite cylinders having a diameter of 240 mm and a length of 300 mm. All the specimens had a charge (PETN) of approximately 3 g, and the charge diameter was around 6 mm. A centric hole with a diameter of 10 mm, 14 mm or 20 mm was drilled for each cylinder, and the decoupling ratio was in the range of 1.8–3.6. Specimens had a decoupled charge with either water or air. Strain gauges were mounted on the lateral surface to measure circumferential strains. After each blast, fragments were collected and screened with a set of sieves. The specimen with a low decoupling ratio and the water-decoupled charge was mainly fragmented into small fragments, while the specimen with a high decoupling ratio and the air-decoupled charge mainly broken into large fragments. The normalized median size tended to have a linear relationship with the decoupling ratio, and the slopes for air-filled blastholes and water-filled blastholes were 0.179 and 0.094, respectively. With increasing decoupling ratio, the measured maximum strain decreased from 4910 με to 2420 με, and the tension part of dominant strain waves increased from 490 to 780 μs. The findings of this experimental investigation indicate that the decoupling ratio and the filling medium have a great impact on rock fragmentation as the charge weight and other conditions remain the same.

Highlights

  • Granite cylinders with an air-decoupled or water-decoupled charge were blasted.

  • Conclusions are made from fragment size distribution and strain measurement on cylindrical surface.

  • The normalized median size has a linear relationship with the decoupling ratio in the range of 1.8-3.6.

  • With increasing decoupling ratio, the maximum of measured circumferential strain decreases from 4910 με to 2420 με.

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Abbreviations

a :

Partition coefficient

b, c :

Undulation parameter

L granite :

Length of specimen

P(x):

Material mass passing mesh size x (%)

R D :

Decoupling ratio

x, x max, x 50 :

Fragment size, maximum size, median size

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 12002047 and no. 11732003).The authors wish to thank Mr. J.Y. Yang, Dr. D. Zhang, Mr. Z.X. Wang, and Mr. Feng at the Beijing Institute of Technology for the support in performing the experiments at the State Key Laboratory of Explosion Science and Technology. The authors also thank the reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Explosion Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China

    Li Yuan Chi, Cheng Wang, Xuan Xu & Jun Yang

  2. Oulu Mining School, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Zong-Xian Zhang

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  1. Li Yuan Chi
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  2. Cheng Wang
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  3. Zong-Xian Zhang
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  4. Xuan Xu
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Correspondence to Li Yuan Chi or Cheng Wang.

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Chi, L.Y., Wang, C., Zhang, ZX. et al. Experimental Investigation of Decoupled Charge Effect on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting. Rock Mech Rock Eng 55, 3791–3806 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-022-02823-w

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