The Use of Numerical Method for Rock Fragmentation Analysis in Bench Blasting

摘要

The demand of industrial minerals are increasing over the past few year, due to several ongoing infrastructure construction projects and constant economics development in Taiwan. The major industrial mineral produced in Taiwan (21 million tons) are mainly limestone and marble for the cement industry. Under the safety, efficiency and environmental considerations, the improvement of the blasting techniques become more and more important for reducing operational cost as well as increase overall competitiveness. Several rock properties such as density, strength, Young's modulus, wave transmitted velocity and discontinuities need to be considered besides blasting pattern design factors. The purpose of this research focused on using numerical analysis and newly developed blasting design software to investigate the relationship between blasting stresses distribution and rock fragmentation which also affect blasting efficiency of the detonating/borehole pressures in highly joined rock mass. In order to obtain practical data, this research applied digital camera to conduct image analysis and evaluate the degree of fragmentation before and after bench blasting. It is believed that the research results can help to improve blasting efficiency in a more scientific manner.