Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-019-01749-0

ORIGINAL PAPER

Experimental Investigation of Blast-Induced Fractures in Rock

Cylinders
Li Yuan Chi1,2   · Zong‑Xian Zhang3 · Arne Aalberg1 · Charlie C. Li2

Received: 17 October 2018 / Accepted: 1 February 2019

© Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature 2019

Abstract
Fractures in rock cylinders with a central blasthole have been investigated, focusing on the borehole expansion, the crushed
zone around the borehole, and the effects of the boundary conditions. Nine small-scale blasting tests were carried out on
granite cylinders with diameters of either 228 or 240 mm and lengths of 300 mm, with fully coupled or decoupled explo-
sive charges. The granite cylinders were confined by steel tubes with an inside diameter of 268 mm, where the gap (20 or
14 mm) between was left either empty, filled with gravel or filled with cement grout to simulate various lateral boundary
conditions. The fractures around the blasthole were examined on cross-sections of the cylinders. The extent of the crushed
zone and the expansion of the borehole were found to depend largely on the decoupling ratio of the charge, both decreasing
with an increasing ratio. For small charges, the cylinders confined by gravel fill developed more and longer radial cracks than
cylinders confined by the more rigid cement fill. For large charges, a cylinder with an empty gap fragmented into very small
pieces, while a cylinder with cement fill broke into large fragments. Hoop strains measured on the steel tubes were smaller
for a specimen with gravel fill than for similar specimens with cement fill. For the cylinder with an empty gap, fragment
collisions with the steel tube caused significant hoop strains in the confining steel tube. The experimental findings of this
investigation may contribute to a better understanding of rock blast fracturing, particularly in the region near the blasthole.

Keywords  Rock fracture · Confined blasting · Borehole expansion · Crushed zone · Surface movement

List of Symbols VB Burden velocity

Dborehole, Dexp, Dsh Diameters for the original borehole, b Undulation parameter
the expanded borehole and the outer mexp, msh Expansion ratio, ratio of crushed zone
boundary of crushed zone x, xmax, x50 Fragment size, maximum size,
P(x) Material mass passing mesh size x median size
(%)
Rh Ratio of burden to borehole radius
1 Introduction
* Li Yuan Chi
[email protected] Rock blasting is one of the most important operations in
Zong‑Xian Zhang hard rock engineering work, especially in mining and tun-
[email protected] neling. To date, the design of rock blasting has been based
Arne Aalberg mainly on experience. An inappropriate design may result
[email protected] in poor blast results such as mineral loss, inefficient use of
Charlie C. Li explosives, poor fragmentation, and even safety risks (Zhang
[email protected] 2016). To improve the blasting design in general, improve-
ments in the scientific understanding of the rock fractur-
1
Department of Arctic Technology, the University Centre ing around a single blasthole are essential. According to
in Svalbard (UNIS), Longyearbyen, Norway
the characteristics of the fractures in the rock surrounding
2
Department of Geoscience and Petroleum, Norwegian a blasthole, the rock damage region is divided into different
University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim,
Norway damage zones. Various notations and definitions of these
3 zones have been used in previous investigations. In general,
Oulu Mining School, University of Oulu, Oulo, Finland

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 L. Y. Chi et al.

the blast-induced damage zones include a crushed zone and borehole diameter varied from 2.45 to 5, depending on the
a fractured zone, and a borehole expansion (Johansson and strength and confinement of the rock, the properties of the
Persson 1970; Zhang 2016). explosives, the charge diameters and the decoupling ratio.
The annular rock region immediately around a blasthole Other important experimental and theoretical investiga-
is known to experience a shock wave, where the rock is tions on the size of the crushed zone are those of Djordjevic
intensely crushed and shattered (Kutter and Fairhurst 1971). (1999) and Esen et al. (2003).
This region, usually termed the crushed zone, is where most In the fractured zone, the cracks are initiated mainly by
of the fines generated in rock blasting originate (Kanchibotla the tangential component of stress waves (Saharan et al.
et al. 1999). Dowding and Aimone (1985) and Saharan et al. 2006; Lu et al. 2016; Zhang 2016). The coarser fragments in
(2006) defined the crushed zone as the region between the blasting are generated in this zone (Kanchibotla et al. 1999).
circumference of the initial borehole and the circumference Boundary conditions of rock strongly influence the fracture
of the postblast borehole. Cunningham et al. (2006) and formation. A free surface parallel to the axis of blastholes
Zhang (2016), however, termed the same region the borehole favors the formation of radial cracks towards the free surface
expansion zone. The annular region outside the expanded (Field and Ladegaard-Pedersen 1971; Kutter and Fairhurst
borehole, where the rock was crushed and shattered, was 1971). In blast experiments on concrete and rock blocks, it
defined as the crushed zone. A similar definition is chosen in was found that some cracks formed early on the free surface
the present investigation and is shown in Fig. 1. The original were initiated around the free surface and propagated into
borehole is expanded to a postblast borehole with an uneven the interior (Wilson and Holloway 1987; Chi et al. 2018b).
periphery, which is surrounded by a crushed zone where The free surface at a proper distance makes a contribution
the rock has a network of dense radial and circumferential to a desirable result such as good fragmentation (Zhang
cracks. The fractured zone outside the crushed zone contains 2016). In detail, the shock wave decays rapidly into a com-
mainly radial cracks. pressive wave (P-wave) and fracturing at the borehole wall
The number of published experimental studies concerned leads to the development of a shear wave (S-wave) (Four-
with the borehole expansion and the crushed zone is limited. ney 2015). The compressive wave is reflected as a tensile
The formation of fines and severe fracturing are important wave from the free surface, which causes spalling nearby
factors in rock blasting as both processes consume a great when the magnitude of the reflected P-wave is greater than
amount of energy. Cunningham et al. (2006) concluded that the dynamic tensile strength of the rock (Rossmanith and
close to half or even more of the total explosive energy was Uenishi 2006; Wang 2011). In addition, the changes in the
consumed for the borehole expansion. Sanchidrián et al. stress states caused by the reflected P-wave and the S-wave
(2007) measured fragmentation energy, seismic energy and initiate new cracks on existing flaws or reinitiates arrested
kinetic energy in rock blasting, and found that the sum of cracks (Fourney 2015; Chi et al. 2018b). Furthermore, the
these varied from 8 to 26% of the total explosive energy. For reflected waves interact with outwardly traveling radial
borehole expansion, Persson et al. (1969), Brinkmann (1990) cracks, where either circumferentially directed cracks or
and Cunningham et al. (2006) found that the boreholes after branching of the radial cracks may be initiated, producing a
blasting were expanded to a size of 1–2.7 times their origi- fracture network, i.e., fragmentation (Fourney 2015). If there
nal diameter. Zhang (2016) concluded from published data is no such free surface, no reflected wave is produced and
that the ratio of the crushed zone diameter to the original such fracture formation does not occur. In sub-level caving,
mining operations involve confined blasting conditions, i.e.,
the free surface (ring face) is restrained by debris (Johansson
and Ouchterlony 2011). Different degrees of confinement
on the rock surface raise a complex issue on fragmentation.
In blast tests on concrete blocks, Johansson and Ouchter-
lony (2011, 2013) found that confined specimens developed
coarser fragments than specimens with a free surface. For
multirow blasts in open pit mines, Winzer et al. (1983) con-
cluded that more oversized boulders were produced from the
first row than from the other rows. The swelling space of the
rock in front of the first row is large, often unlimited, and the
fragments can move freely. Aler et al. (1996) showed that the
fragmentation was improved when the number of blasthole
rows increased from 4 to 12. Considering these observations,
Zhang (2016, 2017) proposed that blast designs for open pit
Fig. 1  Definition of damage zones surrounding the borehole and underground mining should consider the possibility of

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Experimental Investigation of Blast-Induced Fractures in Rock Cylinders

utilizing the kinetic energy of fragments for a secondary hole with either 14 mm or 20 mm diameter was drilled in
fragmentation by collisions with, for instance, a barrier. each cylinder for the explosive charge. The specimen size
The intention of this paper is to present experimental data and borehole diameter were chosen by considering the previ-
on the borehole expansion, the crushed zone and the fractur- ous studies (Esen et al. 2003; Johansson 2011). Johansson
ing in granite cylinders and to show how these are affected (2011) investigated effects of confinement on fragmenta-
by the charge parameters and the confinement of the rock. tion, and used casted cement grout cylindrical specimens
The findings were part of achievements of a research project with dimensions Ø140 × 280 ­mm2 with a central borehole
with the aim to improve the understanding of rock fractures with diameter in the range 5–12 mm. He concluded that the
in blasting, including the works of Chi et al. (2018b, 2019). geometry (i.e., relative diameters of cylinder and borehole)
The former work focused on deformation and fracture pro- as an influencing factor was minimized for the fragmenta-
cesses at the rock surface and the latter focused on shock tion. Esen et al. (2003) focused on the size of the crushed
compression and blast pressures in the granite around the zone, using borehole diameter in the range of 16–32 mm
blasthole. The logical order for the three studies is based in concrete blocks. To simulate different constraints on the
on the distance to the explosive charges; starting from the radial displacements of the cylinder surface, eight cylin-
vicinity of the charges to the free surface of the specimens. ders were placed inside 300 mm long circular section steel
(AISI 1045) tubes with an internal diameter of 268 mm and
a wall thickness of 16 mm. This positioning provided a gap
2 Experiments of either 20 mm or 14 mm between the granite cylinder and
the steel tube, which was either left empty or filled in the
The experimental program consisted of nine granite cylin- various tests. Examples of specimens are shown in Fig. 2,
ders with a central explosive charge. The blast tests were and the geometry is defined in Fig. 3. Table 1 gives the data
performed in an explosion chamber at the Beijing Institute for the dimensions and the charges. Three boundary con-
of Technology. ditions were investigated: (1) the gap casted with cement
grout (Specimens S1, S2, S7, and S9), to simulate a practi-
2.1 Rock Material cally fully confined boundary (Fig. 2a); (2) the gap filled
with an equal ratio mix of 8-mm and 18-mm gravel particles
The test cylinders were manufactured from medium-grained (Specimens S3 and S6), to simulate a boundary that is partly
Fangshan granite from Beijing, China. The material prop- flexible (Fig. 2b); (3) a free lateral surface, to simulate three
erties of the granite were determined from static and variants of swelling space. Here, for Specimen S4, a 3-mm
dynamic tests (Chi et al. 2018b). The granite had a density thick rubber sheet was used as a loose lining between the
of 2.74 g cm−3, a Poisson’s ratio of 0.23, a static uniaxial granite cylinder and the steel tube as a cushion for flying
compressive strength of 84 MPa and a dynamic compressive fragments (Fig. 2c); for Specimen S8, the gap was left empty
strength of 130 MPa (at 90 s−1). According to the informa- (Fig. 2d). For Specimen S5, the steel tube was omitted, pro-
tion from the supplier, the elastic longitudinal wave velocity viding infinite swelling space (Fig. 2e). Fast-curing cement
was in the range of 4000–4400 m s−1. The major geochemi- grout was used for the fully confined boundary. After having
cal components of the granite were ­SiO2 (33.6–56.9 wt%), cured for 3 days, the cement grout should have a nominal
MgO (5.3–9.4 wt%) and CaO (1.5–14.8 wt%), and the domi- strength of 45 MPa and a density of 2.2–2.3 g c­ m−3. The
nant heavy mineral was magnetite (1.01 wt%). Grain sizes gravel particles in the gaps (of S3 and S6) were dip-painted
ranged from 0.05 to 1.1 mm for the heavy mineral compo- with a blue color to distinguish gravel from broken granite
nents (density higher than 2.9 g c­ m−3), and other grains were after the tests.
approximately 1–4 mm. The granite specimens appeared The layout of the assembled granite cylinder and steel tube
with a uniform grain size distribution and without visible is shown in Fig. 3, with vertical and horizontal cross-sections.
precracks. In blasting tests, the anisotropy of granite is com- The diameter and the length of the charge are D and L, respec-
monly not considered (Tilert et al. 2007; Banadaki 2010). tively. The bottom of the borehole is located 100 mm up from
The material was thus considered approximately homogene- the bottom of the specimen. Decoupled charges (relatively low
ous and isotropic (Chi et al. 2018b). weights, Specimens S1–S6) were applied with the intention of
investigating the extent of the crushed zone and the fractured
2.2 Specimen Design zone. Fully coupled charges were used primarily for measur-
ing the borehole expansion (Specimens S7–S9). As given in
The nine granite cylinders (Specimens S1–S9) were manu- Table 1, a decoupled charge (D = 8 mm) of ~ 5.5 g granular
factured from one delivery of uniform granite. The cylinders pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) with a length of ~ 120 mm
were machined to a length of 300 mm: seven with a diameter was used for Specimens S1–S5, while 2 g PETN in a higher
of 228 mm and two with a diameter of 240 mm. A centric decoupling ratio (D = 4 mm) and with the same charge length

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 L. Y. Chi et al.

Fig. 2  Images of typical specimens and explosive charge: a fully confined boundary, b gravel-confined boundary, c rubber cushion, d empty gap,
e only granite cylinder, f charge with pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) and detonator

Fig. 3  Cross-sections of the assembled specimen

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Experimental Investigation of Blast-Induced Fractures in Rock Cylinders

Table 1  Specimen dimensions, charges, and boundary conditions

Specimen Size of granite specimen Borehole diameter Dimensions of explosive Charge Explosive type Boundary condition
Dgranite (mm) × Lgranite (mm) ­Dborehole (mm) charge D (mm) × L (mm) weight (g)

S1 228 × 300 14 8 × 122.5 5.61 PETN Fully confined

S2 228 × 300 14 8 × 120.5 5.47 PETN Fully confined
S3 228 × 300 14 8 × 125.5 5.52 PETN Gravel-confined
S4 228 × 300 14 8 × 122.0 5.46 PETN Rubber cushion
S5 228 × 300 14 8 × 121.0 5.50 PETN Free without tube
S6 228 × 300 14 4 × 122.5 2.00 PETN Gravel-confined
S7 240 × 300 20 20 × 78.5 39.38 Pressed TNT Fully confined
S8 240 × 300 20 20 × 80.1 40.18 Pressed TNT Empty gap
S9 228 × 300 20 20 × 80.0 38.93 Pressed TNT Fully confined

was used for Specimen S6. A fully coupled charge of ~ 40 g 3 Experimental Results
pressed trinitrotoluene (TNT) with a length of ~ 80 mm was
used for Specimens S7–S9. The granular PETN (S1–S6) was The postblast specimens displayed a wide range of dam-
filled in a plastic pipe with internal diameter of 8 or 4 mm, age. For the fully confined granite cylinders (cement
with wall thickness of 0.5 mm (Fig. 2f). A 30 mm long acrylic grout filled gap), the damage ranged from a near-intact
glass pipe with an external diameter of 14 mm was used as lin- borehole and a few smaller cracks radiating outwards
ing in the borehole to center and fix the charge. For Specimens into the granite for Specimens S1, S2, and S9 to a notice-
S7–S9, i.e., with fully coupled charges, the 20 mm-diameter ably enlarged borehole and severe fractures reaching the
pressed TNT charge was inserted directly into the borehole cement filled gap for Specimen S7. Specimens S3 and S6
with a clearance of approximately 0.2 mm. The densities of with the gravel-confinement fragmented into large pieces.
the granular PETN and the pressed TNT charges were approxi- For these two particular specimens, the movement of their
mately 0.9 g c­ m−3 and 1.6 g c­ m−3, respectively. All charges major fragments caused a permanent compaction of the
were equipped with a detonator with a diameter of 7 mm and a 20-mm layer of gravel, which complicated the measure-
length of 50 mm, which was placed at the top of the explosive, ments of borehole expansion and crushed zone. For similar
and cement grout was used as stemming. charges, the fully confined granite cylinders had signifi-
cantly fewer fractures than the gravel-confined specimens.
2.3 Experiments Specimens with a free lateral surface developed severe
fractures for the whole body, i.e., fragmentation; the speci-
The specimens were placed on granite blocks (Fig. 2) on the men (S8) with a high charge weight formed much finer
floor in the explosion chamber. The blasting of Specimen S5 fragments than the specimens with low charge weights
with the free surface was monitored by taking images with (S4 and S5). The steel tubes were without visible failures,
a high-speed camera through a window. To trace the blast but the strains measured on the steel tubes showed that
actions on the encasing steel tubes, one uniaxial strain gauge plastic strain had occurred in the tests on the fully confined
with an active grid size of 2.4 × 2 ­mm2 was attached along the specimens.
circumferential direction at some of the steel tubes to capture To perform an accurate examination of the fractures
hoop strains, as shown in Fig. 3. The strain signals (a quarter- around the boreholes, the postblast boreholes in the fully
Wheatstone bridge) were recorded by a 24-bit isolation data confined specimens (S1, S2, S7, and S9) were filled with
acquisition device (LTT24, Labortechnik Tasler GmbH, Würz- a mixture of epoxy and fluorescent green powder. After
burg, Germany), at a sampling frequency of 4 MHz. An enam- the epoxy had cured, the steel tubes were removed and
eled wire was placed between the detonator and the explosive the granite cylinders were carefully cut across the cylinder
in the specimen to synchronize the data acquisition with the axis, at 110 mm up from the bottom of the specimens, i.e.,
detonator initiation.

13
 L. Y. Chi et al.

approximately 10 mm above the bottom of the borehole. close inspection of the specimens, visible as cracks and
For Specimens S3 and S6 with the gravel confinement, color change. Table 2 gives the values determined for the
the gravel and loose granite fragments at the top end of diameter of the expanded borehole and the measured diam-
the specimens were removed to reveal the fractures on eter of the crushed zone. For S1 and S2, with the charge
the cross-section. Specimens S4, S5, and S8 fragmented weight of approximately 5.5 g and initial borehole diam-
completely and for these specimens, the fragments were eter of 14 mm, the determined diameters of the postblast
collected and analyzed. boreholes were 15.6 mm and 15.1 mm, respectively. For
S7, with a charge weight of approximately 40 g and initial
3.1 Borehole Expansion borehole diameter of 20 mm, the specimen disintegrated
when the steel tube was removed, and the bottom piece of
Figure  4 shows the postblast boreholes for Specimens the epoxy-filled borehole remained as shown in Fig. 4b.
S1, S7, and S9, which are shown as examples of frac- The determined diameter, Dexp, was 47.4 mm. For Speci-
tures around boreholes under the different loading condi- men S9, which had 39 g charge, the postblast borehole had
tions. The postblast borehole circumference on the saw-cut a smooth circumference (Fig. 4c) and diameter like the
cross-sections appeared quite uneven for some specimens. initial borehole. The reason was that a deflagration-type
The diameter of the expanded borehole (postblast bore- event occurred in this specimen (Chi et al. 2019). In detail,
hole), here denoted Dexp, was, therefore, taken as the mean shock pressures in granite were measured by manganin
diameter of the inscribed and circumscribed circles that gauges in the axial direction of a blasthole, where the peak
were fitted to the uneven circumference of the postblast pressure was 1.4 GPa at 11 mm from the explosive for S9,
borehole, illustrated in the photograph of the borehole compared to 7 GPa at 22 mm for S7, and the maximum
piece of S7, Fig. 4b. The yellow circle in Fig. 4a marks measured peak pressure of all specimens was 15.9 GPa
the contour of the crushed zone in this specimen (S1). at 7 mm from the explosive (Chi et al. 2019). The meas-
The crushed zone could, in general, be determined by a ured peak pressures directly relate to the pressure in the

Fig. 4  Cross-sections showing postblast boreholes from specimens with fully confined boundary: a S1 (5.61 g PETN), b S7 (39.38 g pressed
TNT), c S9 (38.39 g pressed TNT)

Table 2  Fracture results of specimens

Specimen Charge Specific Decou- Borehole Diameter of Expan- Diameter of Ratio of Radial cracks
weight charge pling ratio diameter expanded bore- sion ratio crushed zone crushed
(g) (kg m−3) (Dborehole/D) (mm) hole Dexp (mm) mexp Dsh (mm) zone msh

S1 5.61 0.458 1.75 14 15.6 1.11 21.9 1.56 7

S2 5.47 0.447 1.75 14 15.1 1.08 18.5 1.32 6
S3 5.52 0.451 1.75 14 21.0 1.50 27.7 1.98 14
S6 2.00 0.163 3.5 14 14.1 ~ 1.0 14.1 ~ 1.0 6
S7 39.38 2.90 1 20 47.4 2.37 – – –
S9 38.93 2.97 1 20 20.0 1.0 – – 3

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Experimental Investigation of Blast-Induced Fractures in Rock Cylinders

Fig. 5  Postblast boreholes of specimens with gravel-confined boundary, loose fragments on top removed. a S3 (5.52 g PETN) and b S6 (2.00 g
PETN)

blasthole. A deflagration is commonly known to have a connected to the radial movement of the fragments and
slower reaction rate than a detonation. how the measurements are performed. Specimens S1 and
Figure 5 shows the middle part of the cross-sections of S2 (~ 5.5 g charge weight), and S7 (~ 40 g charge weight)
the gravel-confined Specimens S3 and S6, from approxi- all had a fully confined boundary. The determined value
mately 160 mm below the top end of the cylinders. As for the expansion ratio of S7 is significantly larger than for
shown, the specimens are fractured into several larger S1 and S2. For S9 having the similar charge and boundary
pieces. The blue-colored fragments in Fig. 5a are crushed conditions as S7, its expansion ratio is 1.0, i.e., no expan-
pieces of the gravel fill used as confinement for Specimen sion (Fig. 4c).
S3. For this specimen, the diameter determined for the Figure 6a shows a plot of the borehole expansion ratios
postblast borehole was approximately 21 mm, expanded that were determined vs. the corresponding decoupling
from the original diameter of 14  mm. The rigid-body ratios and includes experimental data from other studies
movement of the fragments may have inflated the meas- on rock and concrete materials. The density of the PETN
ured expanded borehole diameter. Specimen S6 (Fig. 5b), charge of the present study was approximately 0.9 g ­cm−3,
which had the smallest charge weight (2 g), formed fewer with an expected velocity of detonation (VOD) of 5200 m
fragments than S3. As one major fragment contained half ­s−1 (Zhang et al. 2006). The density of the TNT charge
the borehole, the expansion was well defined for this speci- was 1.6 g c­ m−3, with a VOD of 6800 m s­ −1 (Zhang et al.
men. With a postblast borehole diameter of 14.1 mm, there 2006). The VODs of the explosives used in the other stud-
was practically no borehole expansion. To characterize ies were 6670 m ­s−1 for PETN (Persson et al. 1969), and
the borehole expansion, an expansion ratio mexp has been 4800 m ­s−1 and 2200 m s­ −1 for the commercial explosives
defined as follows (Zhang 2016): used by Brinkmann (1990). In addition, the static compres-
Dexp sive strengths for blasted rock were 172 MPa (Persson et al.
mexp = (1) 1969) and 131–160 MPa (Brinkmann 1990). Cunningham
Dborehole et al. (2006) did not mention the VOD of the ANFO explo-
Table 2 gives the calculated expansion ratios (Eq. 1) sive and the compressive strength of high-strength concrete
for the present specimens, with ratios ranging from 1.0 used in their study, but a common VOD for ANFO would
to 2.37. Specimens S1, S2, and S3 had similar charges; be 3700 m s­ −1, whereas the concrete strength would be
the first two with fully confined boundary and the last at least 50 MPa. As Fig. 6a shows, the highest expansion
with gravel-confined boundary. The calculated values ratios occur for the lowest decoupling ratios. At a decoupling
listed in Table 2 indicate that the radial constraint to the ratio above 2.64 (Persson et al. 1969), the expansion ratio is
rock affects the expansion ratio, but the ratio is inevitably close to 1, meaning there is practically no borehole expan-
sion. The dashed lines in Fig. 6a are the boundaries for the

13
 L. Y. Chi et al.

Fig. 6  Expansion ratios in single-hole blast tests, present tests and others: a expansion ratio vs. decoupling ratio and b expansion ratio vs. veloc-
ity of detonation for fully coupled charges

observed expansion ratios. The actual value is commonly

known to depend on the properties of the explosive such
as the density and the VOD, and the strength of the blasted
material and the confinement. As Fig. 6a shows, the points
for the expansion ratios at the decoupling ratio close to 1
are quite scattered, varying from an expansion ratio of 1.17
(Brinkmann 1990) to 2.7 (Persson et al. 1969). For such
decoupling ratios, the expansion ratios should be interpreted
with respect to the VODs, as shown in Fig. 6b. As the figure
shows, the borehole expansion has an increasing trend for
increasing VOD of the explosive. Brinkmann (1990) used a
steel tube liner in the borehole in his tests, which may have
contributed to relatively low expansion ratios.

Fig. 7  Ratios of crushed zone vs. decoupling ratio

3.2 Crushed Zone

In Fig. 4a, the texture of the granite immediately around As with the borehole expansion, the extent of the
the postblast borehole is clearly different from the granite crushed zone may be related to the borehole diameter by
in the outer region. The picture inserted in the figure shows a ratio, msh, as follows (Zhang 2016):
an enlarged view of the granite near the postblast borehole.
Dsh
A dense network of short radial cracks, in addition to some msh = (2)
Dborehole
circumferential cracks, was visible in the annular region for
this specimen (S1), corresponding to what was defined as the Table 2 gives the ratios of the crushed zone (msh, Eq. 2)
crushed zone in Sect. 1. The diameter of the outer boundary for the four specimens where this was relevant. Figure 7
of the crushed zone, Dsh, is shown by the yellow circle in shows a plot of the ratios together with experimental data
Fig. 4a. For S7, the crushed zone could not be measured, from other studies on cement-based materials. The VODs
due to the severe fractures. As Fig. 4c shows, there was no of the explosives in the other studies were 3000 m s­ −1 for
crushed zone for S9. For the gravel-confined Specimen S3, a slurry explosive (Sun 2013), 7000 m s­ −1 for PETN (Sun
Fig. 5a, the granite had circumferential cracks around the 2013), and 4700 m ­s−1 for a conventional mining explosive
borehole, which defined the outer boundary of the crushed (Iverson et al. 2009). The static compressive strengths of
zone. The other gravel-confined specimen, S6, displayed the cement grout used by Sun (2013) and concrete by Iver-
only radial cracks as seen in Fig. 5b and had no crushed son et al. (2009) were 80 MPa and 21 MPa, respectively.
zone. Sizes of the crushed zone for Specimens S1–S3 and As seen from the plot, the specimens (Iverson et al. 2009;
S6 are listed in Table 2.

13
Experimental Investigation of Blast-Induced Fractures in Rock Cylinders

Sun 2013) with fully coupled charges (decoupling ratio the local damage around the borehole. Accordingly, the
of 1) have high ratios of the crushed zone, ranging from crushed zone from these tests might be underestimated for
2.41 to 2.76. For decoupling ratio close to or greater than the present comparison.
3.5, the crushed zone ratios are close to 1, i.e., no crushed
zone. The dashed lines in Fig. 7 show the boundaries for 3.3 Fractured Zone
the observed ratios of crushed zone. The present Speci-
mens S1, S2, and S3 had a decoupling ratio of 1.75 and 3.3.1 Radial Cracks
gave crushed zone ratios of 1.56, 1.32, and 1.98, respec-
tively, as plotted in the figure. The larger ratio for the The fully confined and semiconfined specimens also devel-
gravel-confined Specimen S3 is likely again an effect of oped radial cracks in the granite outside the crushed zone.
the rigid radial displacements of the fragments. Sun (2013) For Specimens S1, S2, and S9 with the fully confined
determined the size of the crushed zone in his concrete boundary (cement filled gap), the final crack opening was
specimens by measuring the diameters of the postblast small, less than a millimeter, and most cracks did not reach
boreholes after clearing away the loose materials and put- the exterior boundary of the granite cylinder. In S1 and S2,
ting the fragments together and did not report in detail on one radial crack propagated to the cylinder boundary, as

Fig. 8  Radial cracks after blast: a S1 (5.61 g charge and full confinement), b S2 (5.47 g charge and full confinement), c S3 (5.52 g charge and
gravel-confinement), d S6 (2.00 g charge and gravel-confinement)

13
 L. Y. Chi et al.

indicated with an arrow in Fig. 8a, b. The position of this 3.3.2 Fragmentation

crack in both specimens corresponded to the position of a
radial drill-hole made in the side of the specimen, where Specimens S4, S5 and S8, which had a free surface, were all
a granite plug was inserted for pressure measurements, severely fragmented after blasting, S8 into fines. Remember
which caused a local weakening. For Specimen S9, three here that S4 and S8 were placed inside a steel tube; S4 with
radial cracks were visible, extending 35–70 mm out from a rubber lining and S8 with empty gap (Table 1). Speci-
the borehole as seen in the cross-section in Fig. 4c. men S5 had a completely free surface. Figure 9a, b, d show
Both gravel-confined Specimens S3 and S6 developed the collected fragments of the specimens. For Specimen S7
radial cracks to the exterior of the cylinder, which effec- with a confined boundary, approximately 10% of granite
tively split the cylinders into ten and five pieces, respec- was blasted away from the top part of the cylinder, and was
tively. The fractured specimens are shown in Fig. 5, dis- collected in the chamber afterwards. When the steel tube
playing crack openings in the range of 1–4 mm. Figure 8c, was removed, the post-blast granite cylinder fell apart into
d show the fractured cylinders after the confinement many pieces, as shown in Fig. 9c. Unfortunately, the frag-
was removed, providing a clearer picture of the fracture ments of Specimens S4 and S5 were not sieved. However,
patterns. by visual estimation, their fragment size distributions were
By comparing cracks of Specimens S1-S3, we can con- quite similar. The largest fragments of S5, indicated with
clude that more radial cracks are created in specimens with the circles in Fig. 9b, were up to 10 cm, while the largest
a gravel-confined boundary than in specimens with a fully fragments of S4 were smaller (~ 6 to 7 cm). Both S4 and S5
confined boundary. Similarly, comparing the two gravel- had a charge weight of 5.5 g; the rubber lining used for S4
confined Specimens S3 and S6 (high and low charge was the only difference in the test conditions. The lining
weights), it is evident that an increased decoupling ratio sheet (3 mm) was intended to act as a cushion for collisions
decreases the number of radial cracks. between the granite fragments and the inside of the steel
tube. As the largest fragments of S4 were smaller than the

Fig. 9  Fragments of specimens: a S4 (5.46 g and rubber cushion), b S5 (5.50 g and completely free surface), c S7 (39.38 g and fully confined), d
S8 (40.18 g and empty gap); Rulers of 30 cm length for S4 and S8, 50 cm for S5

13
Experimental Investigation of Blast-Induced Fractures in Rock Cylinders

largest fragments of S5, it may suggest that some fragments The sieving data sets and the fitted curves [P(x), Eq. 3] are
of S4 broke in the collisions. shown in Fig. 10 and the corresponding parameters of the dis-
Specimens S7 and S8 had charge weights of ~ 40 g, S7 tributions are given in Table 3. In Fig. 10, as the major part
with a fully confined boundary and S8 with an empty gap. of the granite of S7 was coarse fragments, the distribution is
As shown in Fig. 9c, d, the fragments of S8 are much finer predicted based on the fine fraction (five data points). With the
than the fragments of S7. Almost all of the fragments of Swebrec function, the fine fraction data and the known maxi-
S8 were less than 1 cm in size. Several of the fragments of mum size would lead to the fitted curves running well through
Specimen S7 were large and fan-shaped, originating from the missing coarse fraction data (Ouchterlony 2005). Speci-
the lower part of the specimen. A set of standard sieves was mens S7 and S8 had quite similar specific charges (2.90 kg
used to screen the fragments, with mesh sizes ranging from ­m−3 and 2.96 kg ­m−3), as listed in Table 3. For Specimen S8
0.1 to 12 mm. with a free surface, the fitted curve is located above that for
A three-parameter distribution, the Swebrec function, was S7. The median sizes, ­x50, of S7 and S8 are 66.7 mm and
fitted to each of the size fraction data sets. The function is 5.21 mm, respectively. The small median size of S8 indicates
expressed with P(x) being the fraction passing a sieve of size that the tensile wave reflected from the free granite surface
x (Ouchterlony 2005): largely contributed to the fracturing of the granite. Subsequent
collisions between the flying fragments and the steel tube may
P(x) =
1 have led to a secondary fragmentation.
[ ( / )/ ( / )]b , 0 < x ⩽ xmax
1 + ln xmax x ln xmax x50
(3) 3.4 Surface Fracture Process and Gaseous Products
Here x max is the maximum size [for which
P(x max ) = 100%], x 50 is the median size [for which Specimen S5 that was not covered by a steel tube was moni-
P(x50) = 50%] and b is the undulation parameter. The vol- tored using a high-speed camera (Photron Fastcam SA5) to
ume-based particle size ( x = 2 3 3V∕ 4𝜋  , V is the fragment observe the fracture process in detail. The distance between the
√

volume) is commonly used to characterize irregular-shaped specimen and the camera lens was 2.7 m. The image resolution
fragments in sieve analysis. Accordingly, the value of xmax of the camera was set to 704 × 520 pixels and the frame rate
was determined by directly measuring the dimensions of the to 20,000 fps, which gave 50 µs intervals between adjacent
largest fragment. For example, for Specimen S7, xmax was images. As Fig. 11 shows, the captured images cover most
approximately 151 mm. of the height of the specimen (view field is 332 × 245 m ­ m2).
The figure shows six selected frames for the first 800 µs of the
blast, where time zero corresponds to the detonator initiation.
The first clear vertical and horizontal cracks are visible in
the 200 µs frame. At 400 µs, the cracks have expanded, and
the vertical cracks have a larger opening than the horizontal
cracks. The largest crack opening at 400 µs is approximately
2 mm. This illustrates that the vertical cracks expanded faster
than the horizontal, i.e. expansion occurred mainly laterally.
This phenomenon agrees with that was reported by Chi et al.
(2018a, b) for the lateral surface of granite cubes in blasting
tests.
By studying the image series, the first gas ejection was
detected in the 450 µs frame, at the location marked with the
dashed circle in Fig. 11. The 800 µs frame shows gas ejection
from several cracks and how the specimen bulges in the mid-
dle. In blasting tests on granite cubes (400 × 400 × 400 ­mm3,
by Chi et al. 2018b), the time of the first gas ejection detected
Fig. 10  Distribution functions fitted to sieving results for S7 and S8 on the surface was 900 µs and 1400 µs for specimens with a

Table 3  Results of fitted curves Specimen xmax (mm) x50 (mm) b R2 Specific charge Boundary condition
by using the Swebrec function (kg m−3)

S7 151 (fixed) 66.7 2.15 0.953 2.90 Fully confined

S8 36 (fixed) 5.21 1.78 0.961 2.96 Empty gap

13
 L. Y. Chi et al.

Fig. 11  Frames of the fracture process in S5 with 5.5 g PETN charge; the borehole is indicated with the dashed rectangle in the 0-µs frame and
the charge is marked with a red fill. (Color figure online)

central charge of 12 g and 6 g, respectively. The correspond- and pixel information of each image is stored in a 2D array.
ing charge lengths were 56% and 28% of borehole lengths, In frames, the background is dark, corresponding to low
and the burden was 195 mm for both. In Specimen S5, the grayscale values of pixels. Granite is lighter, but has a vari-
charge length was 61% of the borehole length and the burden ation in grayscale values due to different components. Chi
was 107 mm. By comparing these three specimens (two cubes et al. (2018b) performed the similar pixel analysis to track
and S5), we may derive that both charge length and burden the edges of developing cracks. In the present study, a fixed
influenced the time of gas ejection. In addition, for the cylinder window with a width of 200 pixels and a height of 50 pixels
(S5) and cubic specimens (Chi et al. 2018b), gaseous products (2D array) at the middle height of the specimen was ana-
were found not to escape from all of surface cracks, especially lyzed, indicated by the rectangle A in Fig. 11, corresponding
not from the earliest formed cracks. A similar phenomenon to approximately 87 × 22 ­mm2. The 2D array was reduced to
was also reported by Wilson and Holloway (1987). a 1D array (horizontal) by simply averaging the grayscale
To track the initial radial movement of the cylinder sur- values of the 50 vertical elements in each column. The posi-
face in the blast, a pixel analysis was performed. The frames tion of the physical surface of the cylinder (its side) in the
recorded from the high-speed camera are grayscale images, subsequent frames was thereafter determined by searching

Fig. 12  Movement of cylinder surface; a displacement of surface (zone A, in Fig. 11) of S5 and b burden velocity vs. ratio of burden to borehole
radius; S5 and other studies

13
Experimental Investigation of Blast-Induced Fractures in Rock Cylinders

for the largest gradient in the grayscale values along the 1D Table 4  Hoop strain in steel tubes
array, providing the necessary information on the horizontal Specimen Boundary condition Strain gauge Maximum
movement of the surface. Hgauge (mm) strain (µε)
Figure 12a shows a plot of the development of the deter-
S1 Fully confined 158 3100
mined displacement of the cylinder surface, with one dis-
S2 Fully confined 155 2700
placement point for each frame. The plot covers the time
S3 Gravel-confined 150 1200
range from 150 µs up to 600 µs, after this gas ejection pre-
S7 Fully confined 100 7100
vents the pixel analysis. As the figure shows, the displace-
S8 Empty gap 100 3100
ment increases slowly in the beginning (150 µs and 200
µs), and then steadily from 250 us. The displacement of the
cylinder side at 600 µs is 12 mm. A linear curve fits the dis-
placement data well when the first two points are excluded.
The gradient of the curve corresponds to the velocity of the
cylinder side, and the determined velocity is 25.3 m ­s−1.
The velocity is almost constant in the range 200 µs to 600
µs, while the gas ejection occurred at 450 µs. The velocity
seems stable (no acceleration) even before the gas ejects
from the surface.
The movement of the cylinder surface has some similari-
ties to the burden movement in production blasts. Figure 12b
shows a comparison of burden velocities plotted against
the ratio of the burden to the borehole radius. The figure
includes results from model tests (Bergmann et al. 1973 on
rock blocks 2 × 2 × 1.3 m3 with density of 2.66 g c­ m−3) and
full-scale field tests (Segarra et al. 2003 on rock with den-
sity of 2.56–2.95 g ­cm−3; Olsson et al. 2009; Wimmer et al.
2012; Petropoulos et al. 2018 on magnetite with density of Fig. 13  Strain histories of steel tubes
approximately 5 g ­cm−3), considering the mean burden and
the mean burden velocity in these studies. Most of previous
blast tests involved only one or two blastholes. An exception The measured burden velocities can be taken as a reference
is Segarra et al. (2003), where multi-holes were initiated at when determining the delay time.
one time, while the burden velocity was measured directly at
the position perpendicular to the front of a blasthole. Since 3.5 Strain in Confining Steel Tube
fully coupled charges were used in these references, the
charge radius of Specimen S5 is used to replace the borehole One strain gauge was attached on several of the confining
radius in the comparison. As shown in the figure, the burden steel tubes to measure the hoop strains that were devel-
velocities range from 45 m s­ −1 to 1.8 m s­ −1 and decrease oped. The heights where the gauges were attached (Fig. 3),
nonlinearly for the increasing ratio of the burden to the bore- H gauge, are given in Table 4. The selected height on the
hole radius. A good fit (R-square of 0.935) to the data points tube was motivated by a comparison with inserted pressure
is obtained with the following expression: measurement sensors in the granite cylinders, reported in
Chi et al. (2019). Measurements were only obtained for
(4)
( )
VB = 68.4 ⋅ exp −0.03Rh
the five specimens listed in the table. The strain signals
Here, VB is the burden velocity and Rh is the ratio of bur- were filtered by using a 50 kHz low-pass filter to get rid
den to borehole radius. The surface velocity measured for of electromagnetic noise signals caused by the detonator
S5 agrees well with Eq. 4. By considering the investigated initiation in granite (O’keefe and Thiel 1991). The filtered
burden and borehole radius ranges in the cited studies, Eq. 4 strain curves are presented in Fig. 13, and the maximum
could be a good representation of burden velocity for Rh in strains are reported in Table 4. The largest strain occurred
the range of 14.8–100 (Wimmer et al. 2012; Persson et al. for Specimen S7, which was the fully confined specimen
1969, respectively). In cut blasting, the velocity of fragment with the largest explosive charge (~ 40 g). The gravel-con-
movement can be used to determine the delay time between fined specimen (S3, charge 5.5 g) gave the smallest strain,
two first-initiated blastholes, which is to let the fragments significantly smaller than the fully confined Specimens
move away and to provide free surfaces and enough swelling S1 and S2 with the similar charge weight. The nominal
space for the immediately following blasthole (Zhang 2016). 0.2% yield stress of the AISI 1045 steel of the tubes was

13
 L. Y. Chi et al.

310 MPa, corresponding to a yield strain of 1500 µs; there- 4 Discussion

fore, the steel tubes of S1, S2, S7 and S8 may be consid-
ered to have yielded (Table 4). 4.1 Borehole Expansion and Crushed Zone
In Fig. 13, the strain curves start at the moment of detona-
tor initiation. Since the curves show the filtered signals, the Zhang (2016) summarized from previous experiments that
start points are not necessary at zero strain. For the similar the borehole enlargement ranged from 17 to 29% of the
Specimens S1 and S2, the strain histories and the maximum diameter. In the present experiments, borehole enlarge-
strains are quite similar. By comparing the curves in Fig. 13, ments in the range 0–137% were experienced and the
the following points may be noted. ratio of crushed zone varied from 1.0 to 1.98, both greatly
depending on the decoupling ratio. Under similar condi-
1. The strains in the confining steel tubes are clearly tions of rock property, boundary and explosive type, with
related to the charge weight of the specimens. For the simple scaling laws, the expanded borehole diameter and
fully confined specimens, the strains are much higher the size of crushed zone can be estimated for the corre-
for S7 (~ 40 g TNT) than for S1 and S2 (5.5 g PETN) sponding decoupling ratios in full-scale blasting. Inevi-
over the whole duration. The maximum strain for S7 is table rock structures as joints, faults and shear zones in
7100 µε, 3100 µs for S1 and 2700 µs for S2. The strain actual blasting would most likely affect borehole expan-
curves for these three specimens display a smooth rise to sion and crushed zone strongly. Compared with other
their maxima, obtained within the time 1.0-1.3 × 10−4 s. investigations, the expansion was also found to depend on
All three curves display a descending part after the the properties of the explosive such as the density and the
maximum, and a second rise starting at approximately VOD and the confinement of the rock.
2.5 × 10−4 s. In the vicinity of a blasthole in mining, strain rate is
2. The materials filled in the gaps influence the strains normally higher than ­1 0 4 ­s −1, and shock compression
in the confining steel tubes. The strain rise in the steel occurs in the rock (Kutter and Fairhurst 1971; Zhang and
tube of S3, with gravel-fill confinement, is significantly Zhao 2014). The shock wave induces intense rock failures
delayed compared to the strain rise of the fully confined immediately around the borehole and gives a borehole
S1 and S2. The real strain rise of S3 starts at approxi- expansion. The damages in the quite narrow crushed zone
mately 3 × 10−4 s. After the rise, the strain fluctuates are also a result of the shock, although the stress and mate-
at a level of 700 µε, as indicated by the horizontal line rial states in this zone are not well known. Due to rapid
in the figure. The maximum strain is 1200 µε for this attenuation of the shock wave, boundary conditions at the
specimen. Compared to the maximum strains of the fully specimen or rock mass surface may not significantly influ-
confined S1 and S2, this maximum strain is considerably ence the borehole expansion and the crushed zone.
lower. The difference is most likely caused by the more However, in the present results, a possible effect of the
flexible boundary support provided by the gravel fill, boundary conditions on the borehole expansion and the
where the 20 mm thick layer of gravel fill is compacted crushed zone was observed. Specimen S3 with a gravel-
when the granite cylinder cracks and expands. After the confined boundary gave larger borehole expansion and
testing of S3, a significant fraction of the gravel pieces crushed zone than the fully confined Specimens S1 and
were found to be broken. Accordingly, uneven gravel S2, all with the same charge weight. The gravel layer pro-
compaction and gradual breakages during the test may vided less restraint, allowing some radial displacements of
have contributed to the strain fluctuations and to a damp- the major fragments, which effectively inflated the meas-
ing of the loading on the confining steel. ured values. The extent of this inflation is not possible to
3. Specimen S8 had a charge weight of approximately 40 g evaluate. For blasted rock where cracks go through from
TNT and was constrained by the steel tube with the gap the borehole wall to the outer surface, i.e., completely dis-
left empty. The strain curve shows a trend quite similar integrated rock, applications of the expansion ratio and
to the strain curve for S3, with a delayed rise followed the ratio of crushed zone should therefore be considered
by a strain fluctuation around a horizontal level, 2500 carefully.
µε, as indicated in the figure. Compared with S7 (similar
charge weight but cement fill), the strains of S8 occur
considerably later and are lower in magnitude. Since 4.2 Gas Traveling Velocity
the stress waves caused by the charge detonation cannot
propagate to the steel tube through the empty gap of S8, Gas ejection from the lateral surface of S5 (with a charge
the strains in the steel are the results of the granite frag- of 5.5 g PETN) was observed 450 µs after the initiation
ments impacting the inner surface of the tube, generating of the detonator (Sect. 3.4). Gaseous products observed
a significant hoop force in the tube.

13
Experimental Investigation of Blast-Induced Fractures in Rock Cylinders

at cracks are considered to be detonation products from 4. The boundary conditions are important for the rock frag-
the explosives. If the cracks in S5 are assumed to radiate mentation. With equal charge weight, the specimen with
in a straight line from the borehole to the cylinder sur- a free surface fragmented into fines, while the specimen
face (through the burden to the surface), the gas traveling with a fully confined boundary broke into large frag-
velocity becomes approximately 240 m s­ −1. Similarly, for ments.
400 × 400 × 400 ­m m 3 granite cubes (Chi et  al. 2018b), 5. The velocity of the free surface of one specimen was
according to the time and position of gas ejection on the 25.3 m ­s−1. Combined with observations from previous
monitored surface, gas traveling velocities of 185 m s­ −1 blast investigations on burden movement, surface (bur-
and 303 m s­ −1 were estimated, for charge weights 6 g and den) velocity was expressed by an exponential function
12 g, respectively. The velocity of S5 thus agrees quite of burden-to-radius ratio with an exponent of -0.03.
well. 6. Flexibility in a confining mass significantly delays and
damps the loading on the outer region.
4.3 Rock Fragmentation

The fragments of S8 (empty gap to the steel tube) were Acknowledgements  This work was financially supported by the Uni-
versity Centre in Svalbard. The authors wish to thank Professor J. Yang,
much finer than the fragments of S7 (fully confined bound- Mr. Z.Y. Cheng, Mr. Z.S. Zhou, and Mr. Feng at the Beijing Institute of
ary and similar charge weight). The strain history meas- Technology for the support in performing the experiments at the State
ured on the steel tube of S8 indicated significant forces Key Laboratory of Explosion Science and Technology. The authors
caused by fragment collisions with the steel, giving some also thank the reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.
support to the suggestions on an engineered utilization of
the kinetic energy of the rock fragments in blasting, for a
better fragmentation in a secondary fracturing step (Zhang
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