9th International Conference on Fracture & Strength of Solids

June 9-13, 2013, Jeju, Korea

Rock Roadway Parallel Cut Blasting Parameters Optimization

Jinzhao Zhuang1, *, Linmei Feng1, Jun Yuan1
College of Water Resources & Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China

Abstract: Parallel cut is often adopted in rapid excavation construction of rock roadway blasting,
blast-effect of cutting holes affects tunnel construction speed directly. In order to get an ideal cut
blasting effect, finite element program ANSYS/LS-DYNA is used in this simulation to establish a
parallel cut model, analyzing how hole spacing and charge coefficient affect rock roadway parallel cut
blasting. The result shows that, when the hole spacing is 165mm and value of charge coefficient is 0.6,
the most ideal blast-effect can be obtained. In other words, the ideal parameters of rock roadway
parallel cut blasting are 165mm hole spacing and 0.6 charge coefficient.
Keywords: parallel cut, numerical simulation, blasting parameters optimization

1. Introduction
The main tunnel excavation methods in China are drill-blasting method, new Austria tunneling method
(NATM) , shield driven method and so on [1]. More than 85 percent projects in mine tunnel excavation
adopt drill-blasting method [2]. Smooth blasting is one of standard methods to control the surrounding
over break and under break in tunnel excavation, smooth blasting technique is widely used in tunnel
drilling and blasting method construction. Cutting is an important stage of smooth blasting, its the
main influencing factor to blasting efficiency, affecting the tunnel excavation footage cycle and the
utilization ratio of blast holes. Oblique cut has the drawbacks which itself cannot overcome, parallel cut
has the following advantages. In parallel cut , the hole axe is vertical to the working face, when hole
depth changes, arrangement of cutting holes can be the same, so its easy to control for operating
personnel, several drill machines work simultaneously and mechanization on drilling can be achieved
at the same time. Cutting holes are vertical to heading face, hole depth can extend for a long distance
along the tunneling direction without the limitation of excavated section. Throw-distance of rock pieces
is small and broken stone can centralize in a certain scope, equipment and support in tunnel are not so
easy to be smashed [3]. Basing on the above advantages, parallel cut has been more and more widely
used in tunnel middle and deep-hole blasting.
China University of Mining &Technology[6], the former Xi'an College of Mining & Technology[4~5],
Central South University [2], the former Xian college of Science & Technology [7]and other units
have conducted researches on the related contents of cylinder cut blasting, they have drawn some
conclusions. Many blasting parameters affect parallel cut blast-effect, including the hole depth, the
pitch, diameter of hollow hole, charge coefficient, cutting shape and so on. The parameters influence
and interact on each other. However, there are less related studies on the optimization of parallel cut
blasting parameters. Three-dimension nonlinear dynamic finite element software ANSYS/LS-DYNA is
used in this paper to establish a model of cylinder diamond cutting shape with single hollow hole for
simulation , discussing effects of hole spacing and charge coefficient on rock roadway parallel cut
blasting and obtaining ideal rock roadway parallel cut blasting parameters.

2. Numerical Calculation Model Parameters

The parameter selection is the key work for the establishment of cylinder cut blasting model, it affects
accuracy of the simulation. Material model in finite element software ANSYS/LS-DYNA can satisfy
the requirement of the simulation.
2.1 Rock Parameters
Single rock material is used in this model, plastic dynamic model is selected in this paper, and the mate
rial model can describe the plasticity property of isotropic, kinematic and mixed hardening. *MAT_PL
ASTIC_KINEMATIC material is selected to simulate mechanical characteristics of rock .Rock material
characteristics are shown in table 1.
/kg.m-3
2600.0

E /Pa
0.551011

Table1 Rock material parameters

Yield strength/Pa
0.27
1.17108

Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected]; Tel: 86-136-6110-6096

Tensile Strength /Pa

1.2107

9th International Conference on Fracture & Strength of Solids

June 9-13, 2013, Jeju, Korea
2.2 Explosive Parameters
High energy combustion model is selected to represent explosive. *MAT_HIGH_EXPLOSIVE_BURN
is selected to simulate explosive. Explosive performance parameters are shown in table 2.
Table2 Explosive performance parameters
/kgm

-3

-1

D/ms

A/Pa

B/Pa

R1

R2

E 0 /Pa

PCJ/Pa

0.35
1.851010
1631.0
5600.0 5.4091011 0.941010 4.5 1.1 0.81010
JWL state equation is used to simulate the relationship between pressure and volume strain of
explosion during the detonation simulation process. Eq.(1) is JWL state equation.

P = A(1

R1V

)e

R1V

+ B(1

R2V

)e

R2V

E
V

(1)

PPressure, N;
EInternal energy per unit of volume of detonation products, J;
VVolume of detonation products per unit of volume charge, m3;
A, B, R 1 , R 2 , Explosive performance parameters, as table 2 shows.
2.3 Calculation Model
Cylinder diamond cutting shape with single hollow hole is often used in cylinder cutting. Basing on
Literature [8] and combining the selected rock material parameters of this numerical calculation, six
charge coefficients are selected for simulation in this paper, they are 0.5, 0.55, 0.6, 0.65, 0.7 and 0.75
respectively. Basing on reference literature [9-11], central distance between blast hole and hollow hole
in this paper are selected to be165mm, 180mm, 195mm, 210mm, 225mm and 240mm respectively.
Fig.1 is a numerical calculation model of cylinder diamond cutting shape with single hollow hole
which is established by ANSYS software.
a

Fig1. Rock roadway parallel cut blasting numerical calculation model of(a) Plane view of the cutting
model and (b) Three-dimensional meshing view of a quarter cutting model
All the hole depth of this simulation computation is 1.5m with hole diameter of 36mm and grain
diameter of 32mm. Priming method is simultaneously inverse initiation. Multiply calculations are
carried out for different hole spacing and charge coefficients.

3. Numerical Results and Analysis

The simulation is in order to get the ideal hole spacing and charge coefficient. The two parameters are
correlative, so hole spacing remains the same at first, then simulating blast-effect of different charge
coefficients in the hole spacing to get the ideal charge coefficient in the hole spacing.
3.1 Blasting cavity analysis of different charge coefficients in hole spacing of 165mm
Blast-effect of different charge coefficients in hole spacing of 165mm is simulated, a series of final
blasting cavity are obtained. In order to observe the cut blasting effect, the final blasting cavity section
drawings are selected to illustrate blast-effect. The final blasting cavity section shape of different
charge coefficients in hole spacing of 165mm are shown in Fig.2.

9th International Conference on Fracture & Strength of Solids

June 9-13, 2013, Jeju, Korea

0.5
0.55
0.6
0.65
0.7
0.75
Fig 2. Blasting cavity section of different charge coefficient in hole spacing of 165mm
It can be seen in Fig.2, when hole spacing is 165mm and value of charge coefficient is less than 0.6, an
obvious bottleneck exists in the final blasting cavity, the existence of bottleneck is not conducive to the
cast of rock pieces. When value of charge coefficient is larger than 0.55, the final blasting cavity shape
becomes funnel-shaped gradually, its conducive to the cast of rock pieces to form a hollow cavity,
creating favorable conditions for blasting of avalanche holes.
Parameters about blasting cavity volume are recorded during the simulation to observe the developing
process of the blasting cavity and get the final blasting cavity volume. The development curve charts of
the final blasting cavity of different charge coefficients in the hole spacing of 165mm are shown in
Fig.3 respectively.
The final blasting cavity volume (m3)
Time(10-3s)

Fig3. Blasting cavity volume development curve charts of different charge coefficient in hole spacing
of 165mm
It can be seen in Fig.3, blasting cavity volume of different charge coefficients increase faster at the
beginning phase, the development of blasting cavity in different charge coefficient begin to flatten at
0.4ms, the final blasting cavity volume in different charge coefficients vary. Comparing with each other,
the final blasting cavity volume in charge coefficient of 0.60 is the biggest, which in charge coefficient
of 0.50 is the smallest. The final blasting cavity volume of different charge coefficients in hole spacing
of 165mm are shown in Fig.4.

Fig 4. Final blasting cavity volume of different charge coefficients in hole spacing of 165mm
It can be seen in Fig.4, blasting cavity increases at first and then decreases along with the increase of
charge coefficient in hole spacing of 165mm. When charge coefficient changes from 0.5 to 0.55, the
final blasting cavity volume increase a little. The final blasting cavity volume in charge coefficient of
0.60 is much bigger than that in charge coefficient of 0.55, its also the biggest one. When charge
coefficient is larger than 0.60, blasting cavity volume almost decreases with the increase of the charge
coefficient. Basing on the blasting cavity volume, it can be said that the optimal charge coefficient in
hole spacing of 165mm is 0.60.

9th International Conference on Fracture & Strength of Solids

June 9-13, 2013, Jeju, Korea
3.2 Blasting cavity analysis of different charge coefficients in other hole spacing
Taking the same calculation method as the hole spacing of 165mm, the final blasting cavity of different
charge coefficients in hole spacing of 180mm, 195mm, 210mm, 225mm and 240mm are simulated.
The final blasting cavity section shape of different charge coefficients in hole spacing of 180mm,
195mm, 210mm, 225mm and 240mm are shown respectively in Fig.5 to Fig.9.

0.5

0.55

0.6

0.65

0.7

0.75

Fig 5. Blasting cavity section of different charge coefficient in hole spacing of 180mm

0.5

0.55

0.6

0.65

0.7

0.75

Fig 6. Blasting cavity section of different charge coefficient in hole spacing of 195mm

0.5

0.55

0.6

0.65

0.7

0.75

Fig 7. Blasting cavity section of different charge coefficient in hole spacing of 210mm

0.5

0.55

0.6

0.65

0.7

0.75

Fig 8. Blasting cavity section of different charge coefficient in hole spacing of 225mm

0.5

0.55

0.6

0.65

0.7

0.75

Fig 9. Blasting cavity section of different charge coefficient in hole spacing of 240mm
It can be seen in Fig.5 to Fig.9, when charge coefficient is small, an obvious bottleneck exists in the
final blasting cavity in different hole spacing. In hole spacing of 180mm, when value of charge
coefficient is smaller than 0.7, an obvious bottleneck exists in the final blasting cavity. When the
value of charge coefficient is larger than 0.7, the final blasting cavity shape become ideal funnel-shaped
gradually. When hole spacing is 195mm to 240mm and charge coefficient is 0.5 to 0.75, the final

9th International Conference on Fracture & Strength of Solids

June 9-13, 2013, Jeju, Korea
blasting cavities are always along with bottleneck, its not conducive to the cast of rock pieces to form
a hollow cavity. It also can be seen that the bigger hole spacing and the smaller the charge coefficient is,
the more serious the bottleneck is.
Size of the cut blasting cavity has direct influence on blasting-effect of the follow-up blast holes.
Recording the parameters about blasting cavity during the simulation, blasting cavity volume in
different hole spacing and charge coefficients can be obtained. The final blasting cavity volume of
different charge coefficients in hole spacing of 180mm, 195mm, 210mm, 225mm and 240mm are
shown respectively in Fig.10 to Fig.14.

Fig10. Blasting cavity volume of different charge

coefficients in hole spacing of 180mm

Fig11. Blasting cavity volume of different charge

coefficients in hole spacing of 195mm

Fig 12. Blasting cavity volume of different charge

coefficients in hole spacing of 210mm

Fig 13. Blasting cavity volume of different charge

coefficients in hole spacing of 225mm

Fig14. Blasting cavity volume of different charge coefficients in hole spacing of 240mm
It can be seen in Fig.10 to Fig.14, in the selected hole spacing, when charge coefficient is small,
blasting cavity volume increase with the increase of charge coefficient. When charge coefficient
increase to a certain value, increase of blasting cavity volume is not obvious with the increase of charge
coefficient. It indicates that charge coefficient and blasting cavity volume are not in a linear
relationship, its not uneconomical to get preferable cut blasting effect by increase explosive charge
(charge coefficient).Because hole spacing and charge coefficient are correlative, taking the final
blasting cavity section drawings (as Fig.6 to Fig.9 shows) of different hole spacing and charge
coefficient into consideration, optimal charge coefficient in every selected hole spacing are obtained.
The ideal charge coefficient in hole spacing of 180mm, 195mm, 210mm, 225mm and 240mm are 0.7,
5

9th International Conference on Fracture & Strength of Solids

June 9-13, 2013, Jeju, Korea
0.7, 0.7, 0.75 and 0.75 respectively. The ideal charge coefficient increase with the increase of hole
spacing.
3.3 Result Analysis
The purpose of cut blasting is to form ideal blasting cavity and provide favorable condition for the
follow-up hole blasting. Using corresponding ideal charge coefficient in different hole spacing can
form ideal blasting cavity. In addition to ideal blasting-effect, economic factor is also under
consideration in the tunneling blasting engineering, that is taking minimum unit powder consumption
into consideration. Calculating explosive charge and the corresponding blasting cavity volume
according to the ideal charge coefficient in different hole spacing, the unit powder consumption in ideal
charge coefficient of different hole spacing can be obtained. The ideal charge coefficient and the
corresponding blasting cavity volume and unit powder consumption in different hole spacing are
shown in table3.
Table 3 ideal charge coefficients and corresponding cavity volume and unit powder consumption
of different hole spacing
Hole
Optimal Charge
Blasting Cavity
Unit Powder
Spacing/mm
Coefficient
Volume/m3
Consumption/Kg.m-3
165
0.6
2.112318
2.23556345
180
0.7
1.930445
2.85387996
195
0.7
2.112963
2.60736144
210
0.7
1.765547
3.12042577
225
0.75
1.637266
3.605264
240
0.75
1.451412
4.066919
It can be seen in table3, the unit powder consumption increase with the increase of hole spacing, but
blasting cavity volume decrease with the increase of hole spacing. When the hole spacing is 165mm
and the charge coefficient is 0.6, the unit powder consumption is the smallest, but blasting cavity
volume in the condition is the biggest. So it can be concluded that in the current rock properties, the
ideal hole spacing is 165mm and ideal charge coefficient is 0.6 in cylinder cut blasting.

4. Conclusion
Using three-dimension nonlinear dynamic finite element software ANSYS/LS-DYNA to establish a
model of cylinder diamond cutting shape with single hollow hole for simulation , discussing effects of
hole spacing and charge coefficient on rock roadway parallel cut blasting , the following conclusions
are obtained:
When charge coefficient is small, the final blasting cavity in different hole spacing exist obvious
bottleneck. When hole spacing is small but charge coefficient is big, theres no bottleneck in final
blasting cavity. Bottleneck become more and more serious with the increase of hole spacing and the
decrease of the charge coefficient.
When hole spacing is constant, charge coefficient and blasting cavity volume are not in a linear
relationship. When charge coefficient is small, the blasting cavity volume increases with the increase of
explosive charge. After explosive charge increase to a certain value, the increase of blasting cavity
volume is not obvious along with the increase of explosive charge. Ideal charge coefficients in different
hole spacing are different, ideal charge coefficients increase with the increase of hole spacing.
Synthesizing the blasting cavity shape and volume and unit powder consumption, comparing the
blasting cavity of each model, we can draw the conclusion that in the current rock properties, the ideal
hole spacing is 165mm and the ideal charge coefficient is 0.6.
Acknowledgement
Support for this research by National Science Foundation of China (51279206), and Chinese Doctoral
Fund (20100008110010).
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9th International Conference on Fracture & Strength of Solids

June 9-13, 2013, Jeju, Korea
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