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Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration

, Volume 36, Issue 6, pp 1179–1189 | Cite as

Influence of Air Gap Volume on Achieving Steady-State Velocity of Detonation

  • Eugie KabweEmail author
Article
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Abstract

The velocity of detonation (VOD) is a significant property considered when rating an explosive. It may be quantified as a confined or unconfined velocity. The confined velocity is the rate at which the detonation wave propagates through an explosive within a blast hole or any restrained space. The unconfined velocity emanates when an explosive is detonated in the open. However, the confined velocity is more significant as explosives are usually employed under a definite degree of confinement. This paper evaluates the increment of air deck volume and its effect on the VOD. The air gap (air deck) volume is increased stepwise from 10 to 30% of the total blast hole volume by reducing the stemming height in the collar zone. Thereafter, the VOD estimation in the 172-mm-diameter explosive column is conducted using the Dáutriche technique. It is observed that the VOD reduced with the increasing air deck volume and detonation failure is high when 30% of the blast hole volume is replaced with air deck. It is deduced that the increment of the air deck volume has an effect on the attenuation of the steady-state VOD.

Keywords

Blasting Confinement Density Emulsion Velocity of Detonation 
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Notes

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that there are no conflicts of interest.

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© Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.School of Civil, Environmental and Mining EngineeringThe University of AdelaideAdelaideAustralia

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