ROCK FRAGMENTATION

Abhijit pal 2012JE1142

 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this chapter, participants will be able to

achieve:

 Fragmentation principles
 Evaluation of fragmentation
 Factors controlling fragment size
 CONTENT

 Fragmentation Principles
 How to Quantify the Fragmentation
 Evaluation of Fragmentation in Tata Steel West
Bokaro
 Factors Affecting Fragment Size
 INTRODUCTION

 The term ‘rock (or blast) fragmentation’ is an index

that is used to estimate the effect of bench blasting
in the mining industry.

 it is generally understood that both the stress wave

and the gas pressurization make significant
contributions to rock fragmentation.
 INTRODUCTION(contd.)

 It is well known that the rock fragmentation in bench

blasting is affected by blast condition such as
specific charge, spacing and burden etc.
 BLASTING MECHANICS

Upon detonation, explosives affect rock by various

interrelated means.
Which are-
1. Detonation Shock Wave -an energy pulse is
generated and transmitted to the adjacent rock & the
rock immediately surrounding the borehole is
crushed to some extent.
2. Shock Wave Reflection -when the shock wave
reaches a free face, the outward-bending
compressive force releases, and the wave is
reflected back into the rock as a tension wave.
BLASTING MECHANICS (contd.)
 BLASTING MECHANICS (contd.)

3. Gas Pressure and Rock Movement –

1. Upon detonation the solid explosive is instantly converted
to superheated gas
2. Gas tries to occupy a space 10,000 to 20,000 times its
original solid volume
3. exerting a pressure that can exceed 1.5 million psi.
4. The fractured rock mass has a certain inertia which the
gas pressure must initially overcome to start rock
movement
5. Once inertia is overcome, the rock moves outward away
from the borehole at around 60 mph
 Processes involved in primary blasting of rock in
bench blasting.

1. Face survey
- estimating overburden
2. Drilling the shot holes
- preparing charge hole
3. Charging with explosive
and stemming top
4. Detonating the explosive
5. Shot pile ready for loading
 Secondary blasting

Blasting conducted to reduce the size of boulders resulting

from a primary blast which can then be handled by the
loading, hauling, and crushing system.

Secondary fragmentation can be accomplished

by:
1. Drilling method - small diameter hole is drilled into
the oversize fragment and a hydraulic rock breaker device
inserted to split the rock .
 Secondary blasting

2. Plaster blasting- An explosive charge may be packed

loosely into a crack or depression in the oversize fragment then
covered with a damp earth material and fired.
plaster
boulder

3. Pop shooting - blast hole is usually drilled near a crack or

depression in the rock, and is directed toward the centre of the
mass and then charged is filled in it and detonated.
 OPTIMUM FRAGMENTATION

 Minimise oversize boulders (less secondary

breaking)
 Minimise ultra fines production
 Maximise Lump product
 Fragmentation enough to ensure efficient digging
and loading
 Muck pile loose enough for fast cycle times and full
buckets
 OPTIMUM MUCKPILE SHAPE

Depends mainly on-

 Pit geometry
 Loading machines
Blast hole Design
 BENCH HEIGHT & HOLE DIAMETER

Large hole diameter and small bench

 Energy yield are difficult to control
 Bad blast effect
charge hole

bench
 BENCH HEIGHT & HOLE DIAMETER

In Small hole diameter and tall bench

 energy yield are reduced.
 Drill and blast cost is high
Blast
hole

bench
 FRAGMENTATION RATIO

Blasting Crushing Ratio = 800mm

150mm

Ratio=infinite dimension
800 mm block
How delay interval can help to achieve better
fragmentation in different conditions
The delay time between individual holes in a row:
i) The delay time between holes in a row should be
between 1 ms and 5 ms per foot of burden, with 3 ms yielding
good results in most instances.
ii) Where air blast is a problem or potential problem, the
delay time between holes in a row should be at least 2 ms per
foot of spacing.
iii) This will result in a blast progression along the face or
along a row of holes that is approximately half the speed of
sound (or less) and reduces the low frequency air blast
generated by face area movement or by surface area mounding.
iv) Where possible, corner holes at the end of rows
should be given extra delay time because of the greater
degree of fixation of the rock in those locations requires more
time for the rock blasted by previously fired adjacent holes to
move away.
 Delay interval between rows:

i) The delay interval between rows should be from two to three times
longer than the delay interval between holes in a row.

ii) The last row in the shot should often be delayed slightly more than
preceding rows.

iii) This serves to allow rock in previously fired rows time to move out
and tends to reduce back-break in the rock behind the blast.

An additional hazard can exist where delay times (compared to burden

and spacing) are excessively long, causing cutoffs of the initiation system
or powder columns due to ground shift. Again, this needs to be analysed
on a case by case basis and accounted for during blast design
Better fragmentation also involves minimizing ground
vibrations, so
HOW TO QUANTIFY THE FRAGMENTATION

1 . A commonly used method today to quantify

fragmentation is to use the mean fragment size,
often designated by k50.

 k50 is a figure which represents the screen size

through which 50% of the loosened rock would
pass if screened.
 This implies that a low value represents a fine
fragmentation and vice versa
HOW TO QUANTIFY THE FRAGMENTATION

Another way to quantify the fragmentation is by

the oversize content.
 This could be expressed in percentage of the broken
material exceeding an acceptable stone size.

The oversize content is a very good complement

to the k50 value as these two values together will
provide a much better control of the
fragmentation distribution than the k50 value
alone.
Max Permitted Charge
Calculation of the max permitted charge can be done according to two
different sets of for-mulas,
Method 1.
The formula can be rewritten as

The constant k is determined by test blasting

Method 2.

or ,

The constants k and a must be determined, preferably by test

blasting and regression analysis.

where v is particle velocity and K represents the initial energy

transferred from the explosive to the surrounding rock
And R represents the distance.
 CALCULATION OF FRAGMENTATION

Kuz-Ram Model
The Kuz-Ram model is probably the most widely used
approach for the prediction of rock fragmentation by
blasting. The unique feature of this model is that the input
data consists of the relevant blast design parameters.

Three key equations are the backbone of this model:

 Kuznetsov’s Equation:
 Rosin- Rammler equation:
 Uniformity index
 CALCULATION OF FRAGMENTATION(contd.)

The n-value, which is dependent of drilling pattern, hole deviation, hole depth,
charge length, etc., commonly varies between 0.8 and 1.5.
 REPORT OF TATA STEEL WEST BOKAKO

FOR OVERBURDEN
 Assuming Rock factor = 12 (Assuming rock is
sandstone)
 Mass of Explosive (Kg), Q = 200 Kg (Overburden)
 Weight strength relative to ANFO (RWS) = 152%
𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅∗𝟏𝟎𝟎
 𝐑𝐖𝐒 = ;
𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝑵𝑭𝑶
 Where density of explosive(slurry) used = 1.31g/cc,
 Density of ANFO = 0.85g/cc
 RWS = Weight relative strength relative to ANFO=152%
 REPORT OF TATA STEEL WEST BOKAKO

Date of Blasting Powder factor (m3/Kg Explosive) Mean Particle size of muck pile
(cm)

DAY 1 2.12 47.18

DAY 2 2.23 49.63

DAY 3 2.0 44.51

DAY 4 1.7 37.83

DAY 5 1.6 35.60

DAY 6 1.9 42.28

DAY 7 2.18 48.51

DAY 8 2.0 44.51

DAY 9 2.0 44.51

DAY 10 2.1 46.73

 REPORT OF TATA STEEL WEST BOKAKO

FRAGMENT SIZE OF OVER BURDEN

60

49.63
50 48.51
47.18 46.73
44.51 44.51 44.51
42.28

40 37.83
35.6

30

20

10

0
SIZE(cm)

DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4 DAY 5 DAY 6 DAY 7 DAY 8 DAY 9 DAY 10
 REPORT OF TATA STEEL WEST BOKAKO

FOR COAL
 Assuming Rock factor = 3(for Coal)
 Mass of Explosive (Kg), Q = 90 Kg (Overburden)
 Weight strength relative to ANFO (RWS) = 152%

𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅∗𝟏𝟎𝟎

𝐑𝐖𝐒 = ;
𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝑵𝑭𝑶
 Where density of explosive used = 1.31g/cc,
 Density of ANFO = 0.85g/cc
 RWS = Weight relative strength relative to
ANFO=152%
 REPORT OF TATA STEEL WEST BOKAKO

Date of Powder factor (m3/Kg Mean Particle size of

Blasting Explosive) muck pile coal (cm)

DAY 1 4.5 16.02

DAY 2 4.3 15.45

DAY 3 4.3 15.45

DAY 4 4.3 15.45

DAY 5 4.1 14.87

DAY 6 4.4 15.90

DAY 7 4.6 16.08

DAY 8 4.3 15.45

DAY 9 4.3 15.45

DAY 10 4.3 15.45

 REPORT OF TATA STEEL WEST BOKAKO

FRAGMENT SIZE OF COAL

16.2 16.08
16.02
16 15.9

15.8

15.6
15.45 15.45 15.45 15.45 15.45 15.45
15.4

15.2

15
14.87
14.8

14.6

14.4

14.2
SIZE(cm)

DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4 DAY 5 DAY 6 DAY 7 DAY 8 DAY 9 DAY 10
 WORK ON WIPFRAG SOFTWARE

We can get –
1) Mean particle size
2) Min & Max fragment size
3) standard deviation
and most importantly-
4) percentage of fragment of particular size.
Step 1 –Open the Software
Step 2- open the file
Step 3- chose the image to be analyzed
Step-4 Select the proportionate scale
Step -5 select the option “Generate Net” for
generating net
Step-6 Rectify the net using different tools
Step-7 select option “sieve” from tools
Step-8 Image analyzed and Data obtained
Step-9 Save the report
 CONCLUSION

In this project so far we have read about different type of rock

fragmentation (i.e. primary & secondary) and different stages
involved in fragmentation of rock. This project also projects
the necessity of different type of explosives & charge hole
design for more power output.
In project we have also learned about application of
KUZRAM model and WIPFRAG software.

This topic has void role in mining industry as it decides the

total output and profit of ore.