An RES-Based Model for Risk Assessment and Prediction of Backbreak in Bench Blasting

Most blasting operations are associated with various forms of energy loss, emerging as environmental side effects of rock blasting, such as flyrock, vibration, airblast, and backbreak. Backbreak is an adverse phenomenon in rock blasting operations, which imposes risk and increases operation expenses...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Rock mechanics and rock engineering 2013-07, Vol.46 (4), p.877-887
Main Authors: Faramarzi, F., Ebrahimi Farsangi, M. A., Mansouri, H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Buildings. Public works
Civil Engineering
Computation methods. Tables. Charts
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Energy loss
Exact sciences and technology
Geophysics/Geodesy
Geotechnics
Miscellaneous
Original Paper
Risk assessment
Rocks
Soil mechanics. Rocks mechanics
Structural analysis. Stresses
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Summary:Most blasting operations are associated with various forms of energy loss, emerging as environmental side effects of rock blasting, such as flyrock, vibration, airblast, and backbreak. Backbreak is an adverse phenomenon in rock blasting operations, which imposes risk and increases operation expenses because of safety reduction due to the instability of walls, poor fragmentation, and uneven burden in subsequent blasts. In this paper, based on the basic concepts of a rock engineering systems (RES) approach, a new model for the prediction of backbreak and the risk associated with a blast is presented. The newly suggested model involves 16 effective parameters on backbreak due to blasting, while retaining simplicity as well. The data for 30 blasts, carried out at Sungun copper mine, western Iran, were used to predict backbreak and the level of risk corresponding to each blast by the RES-based model. The results obtained were compared with the backbreak measured for each blast, which showed that the level of risk achieved is in consistence with the backbreak measured. The maximum level of risk [vulnerability index (VI) = 60] was associated with blast No. 2, for which the corresponding average backbreak was the highest achieved (9.25 m). Also, for blasts with levels of risk under 40, the minimum average backbreaks (
ISSN:0723-2632
1434-453X
DOI:10.1007/s00603-012-0298-y