A Parametric Study of Blast Damage on Hard Rock Pillar Strength

Kashi Vishwanath Jessu, Anthony J. S. Spearing and Mostafa Sharifzadeh
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Kashi Vishwanath Jessu: Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University, Kalgoorlie, WA 6430, Australia
Anthony J. S. Spearing: Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University, Kalgoorlie, WA 6430, Australia
Mostafa Sharifzadeh: Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University, Kalgoorlie, WA 6430, Australia

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-18

Abstract: Pillar stability is an important factor for safe working and from an economic standpoint in underground mines. This paper discusses the effect of blast damage on the strength of hard rock pillars using numerical models through a parametric study. The results indicate that blast damage has a significant impact on the strength of pillars with larger width-to-height ( W / H ) ratios. The blast damage causes softening of the rock at the pillar boundaries leading to the yielding of the pillars in brittle fashion beyond the blast damage zones. The models show that the decrease in pillar strength as a consequence of blasting is inversely correlated with increasing pillar height at a constant W / H ratio. Inclined pillars are less susceptible to blast damage, and the damage on the inclined sides has a greater impact on pillar strength than on the normal sides. A methodology to analyze the blast damage on hard rock pillars using FLAC 3D is presented herein.

Keywords: blast damage; damage factor; hard rock pillars; numerical modeling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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