Discussion on blasting vibration monitoring for rock damage control in rock slope excavation

Drill and blast is a commonly used method for rock slope excavation in hydropower engineering.During blasting excavation of rock slopes,far-field vibration monitoring on the first upper berm for statutory compliance is usually performed to control the blast-induced rock damage to the final slope face.In this study,for the rock slope excavation in the Jinping-I hydropower station,the field vibration monitoring and acoustic testing are presented to investigate the vibration characteristics on the first upper berm and the damage depth in the current bench.The relationship between the PPV on the first upper berm and the PPV damage threshold on the damage zone boundary is also studied through three-dimensional FEM simulations.The results show that on the first upper berm,the maximum vibration velocity component occurs in the vertical direction.While on the blasting damage zone boundary,the horizontal radial vibration velocity is the maximum component.For the Jinping-I slope with a bench height of 30 m,the radial PPV on the inner side of the first upper berm is 2.06%of the PPV threshold on the damage zone boundary.This ratio is increased as the bench height decreases.Therefore,the bench height of the rock slope is an important factor that cannot be ignored in determining the allowable vibration velocity for rock damage control.

Comparison of seismic effects during deep tunnel excavation with different methods

The rapid release of strain energy is an important phenomenon leading to seismic events or rock failures during the excavation of deep rock.Through theoretical analysis of strain energy adjustment during blasting and mechanical excavation,and the interpretation of measured seismicity in the Jin-Ping Ⅱ Hydropower Station in China,this paper describes the characteristics of energy partition and induced seismicity corresponding to different energy release rates.The theoretical analysis indicates that part of the strain energy will be drastically released accompanied by violent crushing and fragmentation of rock under blast load,and this process will result in seismic events in addition to blasting vibration.The intensity of the seismicity induced by transient strain energy release highly depends on the unloading rate of in-situ stress.For mechanical excavation,the strain energy,which is mainly dissipated in the deformation of surrounding rock,releases smoothly,and almost no seismic events are produced in this gradual process.Field test reveals that the seismic energy transformed from the rock strain energy under high stress condition is roughly equal to that coming from explosive energy,and the two kinds of vibrations superimpose together to form the total blasting excavation-induced seismicity.In addition,the most intense seismicity is induced by the cut blasting delay; this delay contributes 50% of the total seismic energy released in a blast event.For mechanical excavation,the seismic energy of induced vibration（mainly the low intensity acoustic emission events or mechanical loading impacts）,which accounts only for 1.5‰ of that caused by in-situ stress transient releasing,can be ignored in assessing the dynamic response of surrounding rock.

Dam foundation excavation techniques in China:A review

A protective layer(PL) is commonly reserved above foundation surface to protect the underlying rock mass during dam foundation excavation. In China, the PL of dam foundation is conventionally subdivided into two or three thin layers and excavated with the shallow-hole blasting method, even by pneumatic pick method in case of soft rock mass. The aforementioned layered excavation of the PL delays the construction of the whole project. After nearly 30-year practices, several safe and effcient methods for the PL excavation of dam foundation are gradually developed. They include shallow-hole bench blasting with cushion material(SBC) at the bottom of the hole, and horizontal smooth blasting(HSB). The PL is even cancelled on the condition that horizontal pre-split technique is employed during dam foundation excavation. This paper introduces the aforementioned two PL excavation methods(shallow-hole blasting and bench blasting) and horizontal pre-split technique of dam foundation without protective layer(HPP). The basic principles of blasting method, blasting geometry, charge structure, drill-and-blast parameters of typical projects are examined. Meanwhile, the merits and limitations of each method are compared. Engineering practices in China show that HSB is basically the optimal method for dam foundation PL excavation in terms of foundation damage control and rapid construction. Some new problems for dam foundation PL excavation arising, such as strong unloading and relaxation phenomenon that encountered in the gorge region of southwest China, are needed to be addressed; and the corresponding countermeasures are discussed as well.

Experimental and numerical studies of the blast-induced overbreak and underbreak in underground roadways

Overbreak and underbreak are the crucial problems during the blasting excavation of underground tunnels owing to their effects on the construction costs and operational safety.A critical challenge facing overbreak and underbreak control is the difficulty in developing guidelines with respect to various and complex engineering conditions.In this study,a series of field measurements of overbreak and underbreak using the Focus^(S)150 laser scanner were performed in a deep roadway of the Kaiyang phosphate mine,China.The distri-bution and extent of the overbreak and underbreak surrounding the roadway contour were accurately analyzed in accordance with the collected point cloud data.Subsequently,a simplified three-dimensional model was established to simulate the blasting excavation of pre-stressed roadway using the explicit dynamic analysis code LS-DYNA.A comparison of numerical and measurement results revealed that the proposed model was a reliable tool to simulate the overbreak and underbreak induced by blasting excavation.Thereafter,the influ-ences of uncontrollable geological factors such as in situ stress conditions and controllable blasting factors including contour hole spac-ing(S),charge concentration(b)and decoupled coefficient(f)as well as stemming were further numerically investigated.The simulation results indicated that the lateral pressure coefficient significantly affected the distribution pattern of the overbreak and underbreak,while the stress magnitude contributed to their extents.Moreover,a comparison of the simulation findings and the field measurement data indicated that the minimal extents of the overbreak and underbreak corresponding the optimal contour blasting results were obtained at S=0.70 m,b=0.9 kg/m and f=2.5,respectively.Furthermore,the contour blastholes stemmed with sand created smaller damage to the periphery rock mass of roadway and enhanced the utilization efficiency of explosive energy.The research findings of this study pro-vide important implications for similar blasting excavation projects.