Support vector machines approach to mean particle size of rock fragmentation due to bench blasting prediction

Aiming at the problems of the traditional method of assessing distribution of particle size in bench blasting, a support vector machines （SVMs） regression methodology was used to predict the mean particle size （X50） resulting from rock blast fragmentation in various mines based on the statistical learning theory. The data base consisted of blast design parameters, explosive parameters, modulus of elasticity and in-situ block size. The seven input independent variables used for the SVMs model for the prediction of X50 of rock blast fragmentation were the ratio of bench height to drilled burden （H/B）, ratio of spacing to burden （S/B）, ratio of burden to hole diameter （B/D）, ratio of stemming to burden （T/B）, powder factor （Pf）, modulus of elasticity （E） and in-situ block size （XB）. After using the 90 sets of the measured data in various mines and rock formations in the world for training and testing, the model was applied to 12 another blast data for validation of the trained support vector regression （SVR） model. The prediction results of SVR were compared with those of artificial neural network （ANN）, multivariate regression analysis （MVRA） models, conventional Kuznetsov method and the measured X50 values. The proposed method shows promising results and the prediction accuracy of SVMs model is acceptable.

Number concentration and size distributions of submicron particles in Jinan urban area:Characteristics in summer and winter

The aerosol number concentration and size distribution were measured with the newly developed Wide-range Particle Spectrometer in summer and winter of 2006 at the urban site of Jinan City. Here reported the characteristics of fine particles of the different observation seasons. Relative high number concentrations for the particles in the diameter range of 10-500 nm were observed in both seasons. It was found that the dominant number distributed in particle diameter smaller than 100 nm and the percentage over the number concentration of all air particles is much higher than what has been measured in other urban sites over the world. The number mean diameter in summer was much smaller than in winter, strongly suggesting the different origin of ultrafine particles in different seasons. That is, particles in ultrafine mode mainly came from nucleation and new particle formation in summer while from traffic emission in winter. The diurnal variation also supported this point. Number concentration in the diameter range of 10-200 um got their peak values at noontime, well correlated with the mixing ratio of SO2 and the intensity of solar radiation in summer. While in winter, those in the same diameter range showed the main peaks during the traffic hours happened in the morning and evening.

Projected area and drag coefficient of high velocity irregular fragments that rotate or tumble

3 degrees of freedom(DOF)exterior ballistic computer models are used in fragment studies to calculate individual trajectories of each fragment based on drag coefficient and the projected(presented)area in the direction of velocity of center of mass.The expectation of a randomly distributed projected area is commonly used for fragments that tumble(random rotation)during flight.We forecast a model where the expected drag coefficient is dependent of shape and Mach number.Rotation or tumbling only affects the expected projected area.Models of projected areas during tumbling and rotation are presented.An examination of the data by Mc Cleskey(1988)indicates that the volume of the fragment to the power of2/3 is a better parameter to characterize the drag coefficient of the fragments than the maximum projected area.Hydrocode simulations are used to verify results and to study projected area and drag coefficient of fragments.

Seasonal Variations of Number Size Distributions and Mass Concentrations of Atmospheric Particles in Beijing

Particle number and mass concentrations were measured in Beijing during the winter and summer periods in 2003, together with some other parameters including black carbon (BC) and meteorological conditions. Particle mass concentrations exhibited low seasonality, and the ratio of PM2.5/PM10 in winter was higher than that in summer. Particle number size distribution (PSD) was characterized by four modes and exhibited low seasonality. BC was well correlated with the number and mass concentrations of accumulation and coarse particles, indicating these size particles are related to anthropogenic activities. Particle mass and number concentrations (except ultra-fine and nucleation particles) followed well the trends of BC concentration for the majority of the day, indicating that most particles were associated with primary emissions. The diurnal number distributions of accumulation and coarse mode particles were characterized by two peaks.

Prediction of blasting mean fragment size using support vector regression combined with five optimization algorithms

The main purpose of blasting operation is to produce desired and optimum mean size rock fragments.Smaller or fine fragments cause the loss of ore during loading and transportation,whereas large or coarser fragments need to be further processed,which enhances production cost.Therefore,accurate prediction of rock fragmentation is crucial in blasting operations.Mean fragment size(MFS) is a crucial index that measures the goodness of blasting designs.Over the past decades,various models have been proposed to evaluate and predict blasting fragmentation.Among these models,artificial intelligence(AI)-based models are becoming more popular due to their outstanding prediction results for multiinfluential factors.In this study,support vector regression(SVR) techniques are adopted as the basic prediction tools,and five types of optimization algorithms,i.e.grid search(GS),grey wolf optimization(GWO),particle swarm optimization(PSO),genetic algorithm(GA) and salp swarm algorithm(SSA),are implemented to improve the prediction performance and optimize the hyper-parameters.The prediction model involves 19 influential factors that constitute a comprehensive blasting MFS evaluation system based on AI techniques.Among all the models,the GWO-v-SVR-based model shows the best comprehensive performance in predicting MFS in blasting operation.Three types of mathematical indices,i.e.mean square error(MSE),coefficient of determination(R^(2)) and variance accounted for(VAF),are utilized for evaluating the performance of different prediction models.The R^(2),MSE and VAF values for the training set are 0.8355,0.00138 and 80.98,respectively,whereas 0.8353,0.00348 and 82.41,respectively for the testing set.Finally,sensitivity analysis is performed to understand the influence of input parameters on MFS.It shows that the most sensitive factor in blasting MFS is the uniaxial compressive strength.

Evaluation of the WDM6 scheme in the simulation of number concentrations and drop size distributions of warm-rain hydrometeors: comparisons with the observations and other schemes

The number concentrations and drop size distributions(DSDs)of warm-rain hydrometeors play an important role in the simulation of microphysical processes.To evaluate the performance of the WDM6 scheme,which predicts the cloud number concentration(Nc)explicitly in aspects of warm-rain hydrometeors number concentrations and DSDs,the simulation of the WDM6 scheme is compared with airborne observations of a flight trial,as well as with the simulations of the Thompson scheme and Morrison scheme.Results show that the WDM6 scheme produces smaller(larger)cloud(rain)number concentrations and wider cloud DSDs compared to the observations,with the largest biases at upper levels of stratiform cloud(SC).The Thompson scheme and the Morrison scheme,both of which set the Nc as a constant,compare better to the observations than the WDM6 scheme in aspects of Nc and DSD.Sensitivity tests of the initial cloud condensation nuclei(CCN)number concentration(CCN0)of the WDM6 scheme show that a better choice of the initial CCN0 may improve the simulation of convective cloud but helps little in terms of SC.The simulation of rain number concentration and DSD is not sensitive to the CCN0 in the WDM6 scheme.

MEASUREMENTS OF PARTICLE NUMBER SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS AND NEW PARTICLE FORMATION EVENTS DURING WINTER IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA REGION,CHINA

Particle number size distribution(PNSD) between 10 nm and 20 μm were measured in the Pearl River Delta(PRD) region in winter 2011.The average particle number concentration of the nucleation mode(10-20 nm),Aitken mode(20-100 nm),accumulation mode(100 nm-1μm) and coarse mode(1-20 μm) particles were 1 552,7 470,4 012,and 19 cm-3,respectively.The volume concentration of accumulation mode particles with peak at 300 nm accounted for over 70% of the total volume concentration.Diurnal variations and dependencies on meteorological parameters of PNSD were investigated.The diurnal variation of nucleation mode particles was mainly influenced by new particle formation events,while the diurnal variation of Aitken mode particles correlated to the traffic emission and the growth process of nucleation mode particles.When the PRD region was controlled by a cold high pressure,conditions of low relative humidity,high wind speed and strong radiation are favorable for the occurrence of new particle formation(NPF) events.The frequency of occurrence of NPF events was 21.3% during the whole measurement period.Parameters describing NPF events,including growth rate(GR) and source rate of condensable vapor(Q),were slightly larger than those in previous literature.This suggests that intense photochemical and biological activities may be the source of condensable vapor for particle growth,even during winter in the PRD.

Influence of air masses on particle number concentration and size distribution at Mt. Waliguan, Qinghai Province, China

Particle size distribution of 12-500 nm was measured at Mt. Waliguan, China Global Atmosphere Watch Baseline Observatory, from Aug. in 2005 to May in 2007.72-hr back-trajectories at 100-m arrival height above ground level for the same period were calculated at 6：00, 12：00, and 21：00 （Beijing Time） for each day using the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory （HYSPLIT-4） model developed by NOAA/ARL. It was found that air mass sources significantly impact particle number concentration and size distribution at Mt. Waliguan. Cluster analysis of back-trajectories show that higher Aitken mode particle number concentration was observed when air masses came from or passed by the northeastern section of Mt. Waliguan, with short trajectory length. High number concentration of nucleation mode was associated with air masses from clean regions, with long trajectory length.

Understanding the Variability of Z-R Relationships Caused by Natural Variations in Raindrop Size Distributions(DSD):Implication of Drop Size and Number

In the issue of rainfall estimation by radar through the necessary relationship between radar reflectivity Z and rain rate R (Z-R), the main limitation is attributed to the variability of this relationship. Indeed, several pre-vious studies have shown the great variability of this relationship in space and time, from a rainfall event to another and even within a single rainfall event. Recent studies have shown that the variability of raindrop size distributions and thereby Z-R relationships is therefore, more the result of complex dynamic, thermody-namic and microphysical processes within rainfall systems than a convective/stratiform classification of the ground rainfall signature. The raindrop number and size at ground being the resultant of various processes mentioned above, a suitable approach would be to analyze their variability in relation to that of Z-R relation-ship. In this study, we investigated the total raindrop concentration number NT and the median volume di-ameter D0 used in numerous studies, and have shown that the combination of these two ‘observed’ parame-ters appears to be an interesting approach to better understand the variability of the Z-R relationships in the rainfall events, without assuming a certain analytical raindrop size distribution model (exponential, gamma, or log-normal). The present study is based on the analysis of disdrometer data collected at different seasons and places in Africa, and aims to show the degree of the raindrop size and number implication in regard to the Z-R relationships variability.

Habitat Loss,Uneven Distribution of Resources and Fragmented Landscapes—A Resource Based Model of the Patch Size Effect

The problem of habitat fragmentation is recently an important issue in ecological research as well as in the practical approach of nature conservation. According to the most popular approaches, habitats are considered as the homogenous parts of the landscape. Also the metapopulation concept problem of the inert habitat heterogenity is considered quite seldom. These approaches have some weak points resulting from the assumption that the border between habitat patches and the metapopulation matrix is fairly sharp. This paper presents a resource-based concept of habitats, based on mathematical theory of point processes, which can be easily applied to analysing the problem of uneven distribution of resources. The basic assumption is that the random distribution of resources may be mathematically described as the realisation of a certain point process. According to our method, it is possible to calculate the expected quantities of available resources as well as the minimum area of habitat that includes the expected abundance of the resource. This approach may be very useful to understand some crucial phenomena in landscape ecology, such as the patch size effect and its connection to habitat loss and fragmentation.

The Impacts and Causes of Land Fragmentation on Farm Productivity: Case Review of East African Countries

This report provides an overall assessment of land fragmentation problems in East Africa. Many parts of East Africa have become highly fragmented, putting development systems and activities in these areas at risk of complete collapse. Land fragmentation occurs when land gets converted for agriculture, industrialization, or urbanization, invaded by non-local plants, or enclosed for individual use and by subdividing farmlands into subsequent smaller units called parcels with varying average farm sizes. Fragmentation results from inappropriate agricultural development processes and ineffective land use planning that fails to recognize how farmland is used, and the importance of its interconnected areas. Insecurity of tenure and resource rights are key factors in making this possible. Land fragmentation is one of the key reasons why the ability of most resources in East Africa becomes scarcer, and those remaining become “privatized” by more powerful community members—keen to maintain their access to them. Such individualistic attitudes are new and disadvantage the poorest even further by affecting the traditional customary safety nets and agricultural outputs. Neither the government nor customary governance systems effectively protect resource access for the poorest. This review summary report identifies the key causes, measures, and implications, government interventions, and the common remedies to land fragmentation problems in the East African Countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania including neighboring Ethiopia, and the Sudan. The findings indicated from 2005 to 2015, the population kept increasing for all the named countries in East Africa with Rwanda and Uganda having a substantial increase in population density. The study review further explores the trend in the performance of agriculture by average farm sizes within the intervals of five years by highlighting their strong linkages and found that the average farm size has declined drastically, especially for Kenya. This can only mean that small farms kept becoming smaller and smaller and that there were more small-scale farmers. The results further depicted that the major and commonly cultivated food crops among the East African countries include maize, sorghum, rice, cassava, sweet potatoes, bananas, Irish potatoes, beans, peas, etc., with maize yields (Mt/ha) in 2003 for Uganda being the highest (1.79 Mt/ha) and the lowest in Rwanda (0.77 Mt/ha) respectively. Therefore, from the review results, recommendations are being made as to how the negative impacts of land fragmentation on agricultural productivity can be reduced or mitigated. One way is by community sensitization and awareness about the importance of land consolidation and its proposition on farm productivity.

Patch occupancy by the Chinese Grouse(Tetrastes sewerzowi)in a fragmented landscape

The Chinese Grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi) is a rare, endemic bird in China, inhabiting conifer-dominated mountain forests. Both the natural fragmentation and heavy cutting of mature forests have resulted in patchy grouse habitats. We used SPOT (XS-sensor) satellite imagery to discriminate between open land and conifer or broadleaf forests. The area analyzed is about 120000 ha in size and includes the Lianhuashan Nature Reserve and the Yeliguan Forestry Park. We identiifed 4111 ha of mature coniferous forests in 229 patches (maximum 332 ha, mean 18 ha) as the habitat used by Chinese Grouse throughout the year. We examined 31 forest islands of different sizes and degrees of isolation for the presence of Chinese Grouse. We used generalized linear models (GLM) with binomial error structure and logit link function to estimate the probability of Chinese Grouse occupancy in a forest fragment. Habitat patch size (hs) and distance to the next occupied fragment (doc) were used as predictor variables, important for occupancy. Small habitat islands were disproportionately less likely to be occupied than large, nearby habitats. There was a clear speciifc habitat size of about 40 ha, above which habitat fragments were occupied more often. Suitable habitat fragments isolated by more than 2 km appeared to be inaccessible to Chinese Grouse. The results have been used in reforestation projects to establish linking corridors in the study area.

A review of development of better prediction equations for blast fragmentation

The paper reviews the development of prediction formulas for the fragmentation from bench blasting.Much attention has been paid to the Kuz-Ram model,its development and errors,and the mean vs.median misunderstanding.The work by the US Bureau of Mines(USBM)and Chung and Katsabanis are also reviewed,as well as the two Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre(JKMRC)models,i.e.the crush zone model(CZM)and the two-component model(TCM),which were developed to cope with the underestimation of blasting fines.The change brought by the Swebrec distribution and the associated Kuznetsov-Cunningham-Ouchterlony(KCO)model is described.Studying distribution-free fragment sizes xP for an arbitrary mass passing P led to the discovery of the fragmentation-energy fan,and with the help of dimensional analysis,to the new fragmentation prediction model xP-frag,which has much lower errors than those of the Kuz-Ram and CZM models.

Rock fragmentation control in opencast blasting

The blasting operation plays a pivotal role in the overall economics of opencast mines.The blasting subsystem affects all the other associated sub-systems,i.e.loading,transport,crushing and milling operations.Fragmentation control through effective blast design and its effect on productivity are the challenging tasks for practicing blasting engineer due to inadequate knowledge of actual explosive energy released in the borehole,varying initiation practice in blast design and its effect on explosive energy release characteristic.This paper describes the result of a systematic study on the impact of blast design parameters on rock fragmentation at three mines in India.The mines use draglines and shoveledumper combination for removal of overburden.Despite its pivotal role in controlling the overall economics of a mining operation,the expected blasting performance is often judged almost exclusively on the basis of poorly defined parameters such as powder factor and is often qualitative which results in very subjective assessment of blasting performance.Such an approach is very poor substitutes for accurate assessment of explosive and blasting performance.Ninety one blasts were conducted with varying blast designs and charging patterns,and their impacts on the rock fragmentation were documented.A high-speed camera was deployed to record the detonation sequences of the blasts.The efficiency of the loading machines was also correlated with the mean fragment size obtained from the fragmentation analyses.

Preliminary Research on the Size Distribution of Aerosols in Beijing

Number concentration and size distribution of atmospheric aerosols were measured in Beijing by an optical particle counter. The relationship between aerosol size distribution and relative humidity is discussed. The results show that the size distribution, diurnal variation, daily variation of atmospheric aerosols have a good relation to relative humidity and Richardson number. Key words Atmospheric aerosol - Number concentration - Size distribution - Relative humidity - Richardson number This work is financially supported by NKBRSF Project (G1999043400), Knowledge Creative Project (8-2101 and 82303) founded by TAP, CAS.The authors would like to express their thanks to Prof. Zhang Wen for his work in this observation.

Parametric study of single confined fragment launch explosive device

In this article, parametric study of single confined fragment launch device was carried out. The configuration proposed was further studied to derive the empirical relationship for effect of fragment size,charge size, confinement thickness on fragment velocity. The simulations were carried out using ANSYSAUTODYNE explicit solver. Fragment velocities were estimated as a function of different parametric combinations of explosive quantities, charge length to diameter ratio, fragment height to diameter ratio,confinement thickness, fragment material and fragment mass. The data was further converted to charge to metal ratio under fragment and confinement. It was observed that, increase in confinement thickness,charge quantity and decrease in fragment height increases the fragment velocity. It is also noted that,charge to metal mass ratio under fragment significantly affects the fragment velocity. At the end, an empirical relationship for fragment velocity interms of all these parameters was established. Using these relations, two velocities 1831.92 m/s and 2523.9 m/s required for NATO STANAG 4496 IM test were estimated. The design parameters for these velocities are presented. Also, the results estimated using the empirical relationship has been compared with published experimental data. Error in the predicted velocities is within the acceptable range. The empirical relationship proposed will be useful for finalization of design of the fragment launch device.

Genome size evolution of the extant lycophytes and ferns

Ferns and lycophytes have remarkably large genomes.However,little is known about how their genome size evolved in fern lineages.To explore the origins and evolution of chromosome numbers and genome size in ferns,we used flow cytometry to measure the genomes of 240 species(255 samples)of extant ferns and lycophytes comprising 27 families and 72 genera,of which 228 species(242 samples)represent new reports.We analyzed correlations among genome size,spore size,chromosomal features,phylogeny,and habitat type preference within a phylogenetic framework.We also applied ANOVA and multinomial logistic regression analysis to preference of habitat type and genome size.Using the phylogeny,we conducted ancestral character reconstruction for habitat types and tested whether genome size changes simultaneously with shifts in habitat preference.We found that 2 C values had weak phylogenetic signal,whereas the base number of chromosomes(x)had a strong phylogenetic signal.Furthermore,our analyses revealed a positive correlation between genome size and chromosome traits,indicating that the base number of chromosomes(x),chromosome size,and polyploidization may be primary contributors to genome expansion in ferns and lycophytes.Genome sizes in different habitat types varied significantly and were significantly correlated with habitat types;specifically,multinomial logistic regression indicated that species with larger 2 C values were more likely to be epiphytes.Terrestrial habitat is inferred to be ancestral for both extant ferns and lycophytes,whereas transitions to other habitat types occurred as the major clades emerged.Shifts in habitat types appear be followed by periods of genomic stability.Based on these results,we inferred that habitat type changes and multiple whole-genome duplications have contributed to the formation of large genomes of ferns and their allies during their evolutionary history.

Dynamic fragmentation of microwave irradiated rock

The microwave-assisted rock fragmentation has been proven to be a promising approach in reducing cutting tools wear and improving efficiency in rock crushing and excavation.Thus,understanding the influence of damage induced by microwave irradiation on rock fragmentation is necessary.In this context,cylindrical Fangshan granite(FG)specimens were exposed to microwave irradiation at a power of 6 kW for different durations up to 4.5 min.The damages of the specimens induced by irradiation were quantified by using both X-ray micro-CT scanning and ultrasonic wave measurement.The CT value and Pwave velocity decreased with increase of irradiation duration.The irradiated specimens were then tested using a split Hopkinson pressure bar(SHPB)system to simulate rock fragmentation.A momentum-trap technique was utilized to ensure single-pulse loading on the specimen in SHPB tests,enabling valid fragment size distribution(FSD)analysis.The dependence of dynamic uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)on the irradiation duration and loading rate was revealed.The dynamic UCS increased with increase of loading rate while decreased with increase of irradiation duration.Using the sieve analysis,three fragmentation types were proposed based on FSD,which were dictated by both loading rate and irradiation duration.In addition,an average fragment size was proposed to quantify FSD.The results showed that the average fragment size decreased with increase of loading rate.A loading rate range was identified,where a dramatic reduction of the average fragment size occurred.The dependence of fragmentation on the irradiation duration and loading rate was also discussed.

Size Distribution of Particles Emitted from Liquefied Natural Gas Fueled Engine

The results of measurements conducted to determine the number and mass concentration of particles emitted from the liquefied natural gas （LNG） fueled spark ignition engines are presented. Particle size distributions were measured at different speeds, different loads and ESC cycles. The nanoparticles with diameter smaller than 39 nm, measured by the electrical low-pressure impactor （ELPI）, are dominant in number con- centration that is nearly 92.7 % of the total number of the emitted particles at the peak point. As for the mass of emission particle, it is shown that the mass of the particles greater than 1.2μm is more than 65 % that of the emitted particles.

The influence of Laval nozzle throat size on supersonic molecular beam injection

In this study, finite element analysis （FEA） has been used to investigate the effects of different Laval nozzle throat sizes on supersonic molecular beam. The simulations indicate the Mach numbers of the molecular stream peak at different positions along the center axis of the beam, which correspond to local minimums of the molecular densities. With the increase of the throat diameter, the first peak of the Mach number increases first and then decreases, while that of the molecular number density increases gradually. Moreover, both first peaks shift progressively away from the throat. At the last part, we discuss the possible applications of our FEA approach to solve some crucial problems met in modern transportations.