💥 How does the detonation velocity of explosives affect rock fracturing?

In quarries for building stone extraction, up to 30% of the rock turns into fines after blasting and crushing, reducing economic efficiency. One of the key factors is the prefracture zones formed during explosive detonation.

🔬 What was studied?

1️⃣ Explosive detonation velocity (ranging from 2 to 5.2 km/s).
2️⃣ Stresses in the rock mass during blasting.
3️⃣ Microfracturing using X-ray microtomography.

📊 Results:

✔️ The size of the prefracture zone increases from 33R to 77R (where R is the charge radius) as detonation velocity rises.
✔️ Microfracture density (N) depends on the distance from the charge:
• Near zone (10R): from 5,000 to 13,800 pcs/cm³ (exponential growth).
• Far zone (70R): from 0 to 200 pcs/cm³ (linear growth).

💡 Practical conclusions:

➡️ Using explosives with reduced detonation velocity minimizes prefracture zones and decreases fines yield.
➡️ Optimizing blasting parameters allows controlled rock fragmentation and increases the output of marketable fractions.

For more information, see the article:

📌 Khokhlov S.V., Vinogradov Yu.I., Makkoev V.A., Abiyev Z.A. Effect of explosive detonation velocity on the degree of rock pre-fracturing during blasting. Mining Science and Technology (Russia). 2024;9(2):85-96. https://doi.org/10.17073/2500-0632-2023-11-177

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