Title: Evaluating the efficacy of air-decking technique for surface mine blasts

Authors: Vineeth Balakrishnan

Addresses: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad, 826001, Jharkhand, India

Abstract: The study underlines the effect of air-decking on rock fragmentation, blast induced ground vibration, and air overpressure. Five trial blasts have been conducted in a nearby limestone mine using wooden spacers as air-decks of 1.2 m length to replace about 20% of the explosive by weight. Also, the continuous velocity of detonation in a blast hole is measured. It is observed that the detonation wave, which comes across such large non-explosive zones, gets attenuated as no explosive is available, and the detonation becomes completely dead. The fragmentation achieved in the experimental trial blasts presented in the paper produced a significant number of boulders. The introduction of air decks in the column replaces the explosive, which leads to a reduction in the maximum charge per delay. The air-deck technique is found feasible in regions that have restrictions on the charge per delay due to excessive ground vibration and air overpressure.

Keywords: air-deck technique; explosive consumption reduction techniques; rock fragmentation; velocity of detonation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMME.2024.140700

International Journal of Mining and Mineral Engineering, 2024 Vol.15 No.3, pp.351 - 362

Received: 09 Jan 2024
Accepted: 31 May 2024
Published online: 30 Aug 2024 *

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