Explosives Engineering Commons^™

A Study On Fragmentation And Ground Vibration With Air Space In The Blasthole, Everett Ellsworth Bleakney Iii

Masters Theses

"The degree of fragmentation and the level of ground vibration from a bench blast employing standard full-column completely-coupled explosive charges are commonly controlled by varying one or more of the many dimensional variables of blast design. Blasting techniques such as decoupling and air-gapping, utilizing air space in the blasthole, have also been reported as having the potential to control rock fragmentation and ground vibration.

This investigation, using reduced-scale in situ bench blasts, examined the degree of fragmentation and the level of ground vibrations produced from the standard full-column completely-coupled, air-gapped, and decoupled methods of blasting to:

1. Compare the effectiveness …