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Flyrock in bench blasting: a comprehensive review

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Abstract

Flyrock is unwanted throw of rock fragments during bench blasting in mines and civil constructions. Perfunctory attempts by researchers to predict the flyrock range using mathematical, empirical and ANN based models do not address the issue in totality. Thus, flyrock continues to haunt the blaster. The research on the subject is, thus, still in its infancy. This paper identifies the lacunae, through a comprehensive review of the existing models, and suggests measures for better prediction and understanding of the problem on a holistic plane. One of the main reasons for improper predictions is the lack of data on flyrock in comparison to blast vibrations owing to statutory restrictions, avoidance of reporting and consequent constraints on experimentation. While fragmentation and throw of rock accompanied by subsequent vibration and air overpressure are essential constituents of the blasting, flyrock is not. This probably is one of the main errors in predictive domains. In addition, rock mass properties play a major role in heaving of rock fragments during blasting. Barring density of the rock, other rock mass properties have practically been ignored in all the models. At the end of this paper, for future investigations, a methodology for prediction of flyrock is also given.

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Acknowledgments

This paper forms part of the Ph.D. work of the first Author. Authors are thankful to the Director CSIR-CIMFR for his permission to publish the paper. The help rendered by colleagues and other staff at CSIR-CIMFR is duly acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Regional Centre Unit-I, CSIR—Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, 3rd Floor MECL Complex, Seminary Hills, Nagpur, 440 006, India

    A. K. Raina & A. K. Soni

  2. Department of Mining Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, 826 008, India

    V. M. S. R. Murthy & A. K. Soni

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  1. A. K. Raina
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  2. V. M. S. R. Murthy
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  3. A. K. Soni
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Correspondence to A. K. Raina.

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Raina, A.K., Murthy, V.M.S.R. & Soni, A.K. Flyrock in bench blasting: a comprehensive review. Bull Eng Geol Environ 73, 1199–1209 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-014-0588-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-014-0588-6

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