Effect of Water-Decked Blasting on Rock Fragmentation Energy

Abstract

Fragmentation energy ratio is an important index to evaluate whether an explosive is used efficiently. This paper discusses the effect of water-decked blasting on fragmentation energy based on theory and numerical simulation, and three blasting tests were performed to measure the actual fragmentation energy at a granite-based field. Results show that at the same charge amount, the maximum borehole pressure of water-decked blasting is much greater than that of normal blasting in theory, which facilitates rock breaking. In numerical simulation, water-decked blasting is more beneficial to the transmission of explosive energy; therefore, the damage distribution is more uniform and the damage level is higher. The specific surface area and fragment size distribution were obtained by three-dimensional laser scanning and image analysis in field tests; therefore, the fragmentation energy could be measured, which showed that the fragmentation energy could be increased by 10% in water-decked blasting. In addition, water-decked blasting can reduce fly rocks and ensure the safety of rock blasting.