Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. Vol. 34, No. 8, pp.

1153-1163, 1997

Pergamon

PII: S0148-9~62(97)00300-8

1998 Published by Elsevier ScienceLtd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0148-9062/97 $17.00 + 0.00

Modeling Fractures in Rock Blasting

F. V. DONZt~J. BOUCHEZ:~ S. A. M A G N I E R t A numerical model based on the discrete element is used to investigate the importance of stress waves on the initiation and propagation of radial fractures during the dynamic loading phase of an explosion. An explosion occurring in a two-dimensional rock plate is simulated and the resulting fracturing process is detailed. First, during the pressure rise of the explosive source, a crushed zone is created in the vicinity of the explosion cavity. Then, because of the tensile tail of the propagating pressure wave, radial fractures propagate from the edge of the crushed zone. Different crack velocities were found which varied with respect to crack length. It was seen that the higher the crack velocity the greater the extent of the radialfractures. Tests with different explosive sources have shown that both the size of the crushed zone and the length of the radial fractures depend on their peak pressure and frequency content. Efficient sources, which generate long radial fractures with a small crushed zone, can be obtained with low peak pressures provided that the frequency content is lowered. Finally, when the plate is subjected to uniaxial compression, the fractures align along the main stress axis. In the light of these results, the method proposed here seems to be appropriate to study complex problems involving the creation and evolution of discontinuities. 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd

INTRODUCTION The fracture process in rock blasting has received considerable attention over the last decades and its mechanism seems to be well understood [1]. It is generally agreed that two types of loading are applied on a material during an explosion. First, a stress wave loading, that travels outward from the explosion cavity, followed by a longer duration gas pressurization loading [2,3] (see Fig. 1). Controversies still exist on their relative importance [4,5]. Many experiments, using materials with photoelastic properties, have demonstrated the important role of the stress wave on the initiation and propagation of the fractures [6]. Other experiments have attempted to show that the action of the gas forcing its way through the cracks surrounding the explosion cavity played a dominant role in the rock blasting process. Mathematical models of explosions in rocks [7-9], generally agree with crack extension data. However, these models are exclusively focussed on the propagation of the gas in pre-existing cracks around the explosion cavity but they ignore their formation process. These cracks are first initiated by the propagation of the stress wave. However only few models [10] deal with the formation of cracks associated with the stress wave
tGEOTOP, Universit6 du Qu6bec h Montr6al, Canada. SLaboratoire de D6tection et G6ophysique, Commissariat ~ l'Energie Atomique, France.

loading. This lack of models can be explained by the difficulty of considering the initiation and propagation of numerous and very localized discontinuities in real materials. Current models [11-13] mostly use continuous approaches to study the initial loading stage. Although they give a good estimate of the extent of the weakening

Crushing zone

Crushing and fracture in non-linear zone

Expansion of cavity Extension of non-linear crushed zone Growth of radial fractures

Radial cracks from elastic wave

Dynamic

Quasi-static
(AdaptedfromKutter & Fairhurst, 1971)

Fig. 1. Consecutive stages in the fracture process of a fully contained explosion. This study focuses only on the dynamic part of the process. 1153

1154

DONZI~ et al.: MODELINGFRACTURES IN ROCK BLASTING intent of this work to underestimate the effect of the gas which has been shown to expand in the stress wave generated fractures and increase their length by a factor of at least 5 [6]. However the purpose of the authors is to emphasize the importance of the initial fracturing step. MODEL In the discrete element method, the medium is described by an assembly of indivisible elements. The comparison with the granular nature of rocks is thus suggested. The proper interactions between elements will then need to be defined to account for the mechanical properties and cohesion of the medium. In this work, circular elements were chosen. The ith element is described by its radius R~, its mass M~ and its center position Xi = (xi, yt). This geometrical shape was chosen for the elements because of its simplicity relative to polygonal elements found in other approaches [18]. Although space is well paved by the latter elements their geometries introduce algorithmic complexities and high computational costs.
Spatial distribution o f elements

i
D~

Fig. 2. The hysteretic behavior of the normal repulsive interaction force is shown. Step 1 correspondsto the loading path with a slope of k~R~,step 2 is the unloading path with a slope of kNRZ and step 3 is the reloading path with a slope of kNR2. in the material around the source, they do not characterize the very localized fracture growth. The discrete element method provided a new approach to model the creation and evolution of discontinuities in explosion phenomenology [14]. However, to our knowledge, only non-cohesive materials have been considered so far in explosion phenomenology. The objective of the proposed model is to examine the fracturing process during the stress wave loading in a cohesive elastic-brittle material. The model takes into account the initiation and propagation of narrow discontinuities around the explosion cavity during a blasting event. It is based on a discrete element method, where the rock mass is represented by an assembly of jointed elements [15]. A crack is initiated when the joint between two elements exceeds its tensile or shear strength. The crack propagates when new discontinuities are created at its tip. In addition, since the joints are initially cohesive, wave propagation may also be considered wherever the medium remains unbroken. This model has been used in a three-dimensional case to study the elastic waves generated by an explosion in a brittle elastic medium [16]. The present study is focussed on the fracturing near the explosion cavity. In order to compare the computed results with observed data [2,6,17], an explosive event is simulated in a two-dimensional plate that has the macroscopic properties of a dense hard rock. The formation of the resulting crushed zone and of the long radial fractures are first detailed. Second, the effects of the boundary conditions and of the source parameters on the fracturing process are discussed. Series of tests are presented where the pressure and frequency contents of the source are allowed to vary. Finally, the effect of the stress field on the orientation of fractures is considered. The relation between the source parameters and the resulting fracture patterns could lead to optimal source design for specific usages. For example, it is possible to determine the characteristics of the source which will lead to small crushed zones with long radial fractures before the subsequent gas loading step. It is not the

Initially, the elements which are all of identical radii, are stacked along a perfect most compact crystalline lattice, i.e. a triangular arrangement. It was seen that during a large deformation, this orderly spatial distribution led to anisotropic fracturing directions along the main cleavage planes [19]. However, in an ideal polycrystalline rock mass, there should be no preferential directions of fractures. This material property can be reproduced in the model, if disorder is introduced in the elements' size and spatial distribution. In conventional discrete element methods, which use circular elements, disorder is generated by using depositiona! [20] or compaction methods. However, this is a long numerical process with little control on the amount of disorder introduced. In the present work, the simplicity of the initial triangular arrangement has been kept and disorder has been introduced by changing the central position of the ith element at time t = 0 by adding to it a perturbation such that its modified position Xpd is, 0~R~ X~d = X~ + ~7~ ( 2 ~ i - 1), with, ffi e [0, 1], (1)

where ~t is randomly selected and e is the amplitude of the perturbation. The amount of disorder may thus be controlled and media ranging from anisotropic to isotropic can be generated, by varying e. The value of e does not exceed 0.9 so that the applied perturbation is not more than half the distance separating two neighbouring elements on the original crystalline lattice and two elements cannot have an identical center position. It was seen that by doing so, sufficient disorder was introduced in the model to override preferential fracturing directions. Nonetheless, in this new distribution, elements are allowed to overlap which leads to a decrease of the occupation of

DONZI~ et al.:

M O D E L I N G F R A C T U R E S IN ROCK BLASTING

1155

space. To fill up this vacant space, the radius of the ith element is modified such that, Rp d = fiR, (2)

Fracture criterion

Rupture thresholds ~N, ~s, for the normal and shear interaction forces are defined such that, beyond these values the interaction forces drop to zero. If P~ > qbN or F~ > q~s ~ P~, = 0 and P~ = 0. (5) The initially linked elements are then dissociated. These thresholds which control the fracture criteria are selected according to the shear and tensile strengths determined in laboratory experiments. Thus, from the corresponding Mohr's diagram relating the macroscopic tensile and shear strengths, the following ratio is imposed on the rupture thresholds: qbN
~s
-

where R m~ is the modified radius and/~ is the factor that controls the extent of the desired filling up of space. It has been found that with a value of/~ = 1.3 the vacant space, due to tZhe introduction of disorder generated when ~ = 0.9, became negligible. This is a simple and efficient way of controlling the amount of disorder with factor ~ and adjusting the filling up of space with factor ft. However, as this procedure induces overlapping between discrete elements, significant over dilatancy phenomena can appear when large flows of elements occur which means caution has to be exercised when simulating large deformation processes.
Cohesive interaction laws

To
"Co'

(6)

Once the elements have been distributed, the interactions between the ith element and its nearest neighbours need to be set up. This is done by defining a search radius rs around X md. Any element with a center found within this radius will interact with the ith element. The radius r~ is chosen so that, on average, an element will be linked with the same number of elements to which it would be linked if a perfect crystalline lattice was set up and nearest neighbour interactions were chosen. This means, that in the 2D problem here, the elements will have on average, 6 interacting neighbours when the simulation begins. This implies that in the present model, a pattern of interactions similar to nearest neighbour discrete element methods will be kept despite the presence of spatial perturbations of the crystalline lattice. Once the interacting neighbours have been identified, the nature of the interactions are initially set to be linearly elastic and cohesive, such that:
U~ -- kN(D o - D~= o),

where To and ~0 are the macroscopic tensile and shear strengths, respectively. This ratio is indicative of the degree of brittleness of the material. With this condition, values of q~N and qbs are determined from compressive and tensile numerical calibration tests.
Collision laws

To include irreversibility in the fracturing process, new interactions are defined for elements that come into contact after a rupturing event. A collision occurs when the distance between the centers of two elements is less than or equal to the sum of their radii. These colliding elements may interact only with repulsive forces. Note that, in classical methods of discrete elements [21] repulsive forces are the only interaction forces used. Furthermore, to account for grain damage due to

(3)

.~

0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2

0.1

and,
= ksD, 0,,

._~

t-0 o~ 0

(4)

a.

0.0 -0.1 -0.2 -0.3 -0.5

-o.4
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5

where, F~, is the normal interaction force and ~ is the shear interaction :force that t h e j t h element exerts on the ith element, kN and ks represent the normal and shear elastic constants, respectively. Dr= 0 is the initial distance separating the central position of elements i and j, while D~ is the distance between the centers at time t. 0~ is the angular variation, at time t, with respect to the initial position of the elements. It can be seen that despite the overlapping of elements the system is in equilibrium. Rotations of elements are neglected because the processes studied here do not involve large displacements. The elastic: constants k~ and ks are functions of Young's modulus E and Poisson's ratio v. Because of the geometrical disorder, these functions may not be expressed explicitly and uniaxial deformation tests are performed to calibrate the elastic properties of the model.

Ks/Kn
3.25e+11
D 2.75e+11

2.25o+11
"0 0

E
e-

1.75e+11 1.25e+11 7.5e+10 0

0.0

o >-

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

Ks/Kn
Fig. 3. A small strain is applied on a rectangular plate and the macroscopic elastic properties are measured. On the upper curve Poisson's ratio and on the lower curve Young's modulus were measured when inputing different ks/kN. For a chosen kN = 1.0 x 1 0 " N / m and for ks~ks = 0.6, a Young's modulus of 1.0 x 10 u Pa and a Poisson's ratio of 0.09 were obtained.

1156

DONZE et al.: MODELING FRACTURES IN ROCK BLASTING calibrate the model parameters in terms of macroscopic elastic properties. Uniaxial strain tests are performed in both compression and tension to determine the strength properties of the medium. For a given ON/OS obtained from a Mohr's diagram, ON varies until the appropriate compressional and tensile strengths are obtained for a chosen medium. In Fig. 4, the stress-strain and the volumetric strain curves of the reference model are shown. The resulting fracture patterns are also displayed. The properties of the reference sample used in the explosion simulations are given in Table 1. They correspond to a dense hard rock. Because the two-dimensional square plates used in the explosion simulation are of the same order in size as the fractures generated, the damping coefficient was chosen so as to remove all the affects of reflected waves which might have otherwise interfered with the fracturing process. This is to be close to an infinite medium. Nonetheless it has been verified that introducing such a damping factor will not change the physical mechanisms involved in the fracturing process. EXPLOSION SIMULATIONS A cavity is created in the center of a two-dimensional plate made up of 46,000 discrete elements by removing all the elements located within a circle of radius r~. To simulate an explosion, a radial force is applied on each element which make up the cavity wall. The explosive source pressure is the sum of all these forces divided by the surface area covered by the wall elements (see Fig. 5). The input pressure pulse is a Gaussian time function. The reasons for choosing such a source function are: 1. A source with no residual pressure is needed since the problem deals only with the dynamical step of an explosion. 2. A good control of the frequency content and the peak pressure is possible. 3. The time integration for this source type is smooth. A reference simulation is first run to base all comparisons. The characteristics of this simulation are found in Table 2. Free boundary conditions imply that the elements making up the edges are free to move in any direction. Conversely, rigid boundary conditions mean that these elements have a fixed position and their velocity is set to zero.
BLAST AND ASSOCIATED FRACTURING PROCESS IN THE REFERENCE SIMULATION

collisions, the normal repulsive interaction forces exhibit a hysteretic behavior. Repulsive interactions take place as long as the distance between colliding elements is less than the contact distance,
D~(t = to) = x/(Xj(to) - X,(t)) 2,

(7)

where tc is the time at which elements collide. The normal repulsive force during loading is, F~R = kNR~(D, - D~) for O] < O~, (8)

where kNR1 is the loading interaction constant. As long as the elements are in contact, unloading and reloading have a slope kNR2>1 kNR1(see Fig. 2). A simple hysteretic law has been chosen because there is no common agreement on a specific law. Coulomb type friction laws were neglected because the rupture process observed in the present study is mainly mode I opening. Unlike studies with non-cohesive circular elements, individual elements used here are not allowed to rotate. Both this lack of possible rotation and the introduction of complex patterns of element clusters due to cohesion could generate exaggerated levels of friction [22] if mode II fractures were present.
Newton's law o f motion

Since the problem of studying explosive events implies strong inertial effects, Newton's law of motion is used to obtain the velocity and displacement of the ith element from the unbalanced forces applied on it,
M.t C3t 2 =k=,

dXi
l=l

(9)

where m is the total number of elements initially linked to the ith element and n is the total number of elements colliding with the ith element. A damping factor r/has been introduced in the last term of this equation. This term is proportional to the element velocity and is highly efficient in damping elastic waves. The time integration method is based on the "Velocity-Verlet" finite-difference algorithm [23] which allows the updating of the element positions, velocities and accelerations at the same instant of time.
Calibration o f the model

Because of the geometrical disorder in the model, explicit relationships between the local elastic constants kN and ks and the macroscopic elastic parameters are difficult to determine. However obtaining them via numerical simulations for a given element distribution is straightforward [18]. Uniaxial compressional strain tests are performed on two-dimensional rectangular plates. During the elastic response, Poisson's ratio and Young's modulus may be measured. For a given non-zero kN, the relationship between Poisson's ratio and ks/kN is shown in Fig. 3. Then, for a selected Poisson's ratio, the appropriate ks/kN is entered into the model parameters and kN varies until the desired Young's modulus is obtained. Families of curves may thus be obtained to

To ease later comparisons of the effects of the source characteristics on the fracturing process, the modes of failure of the reference simulation are first analysed.
Creation o f the crushed zone

In the immediate vicinity of the explosion cavity, an intensely crushed zone is created as soon as the source

DONZE et al.:

MODELING FRACTURES IN ROCK BLASTING

1157

3.5e+08 3e+08 2.5e,,08 2e+08

e)

1.5e+08
m

le+08 Se+07 )
0

-5e+07
-1 e+08

i
o15
Axial strain (%)

0,0

11o

(b)

0.4-

0.3'

iP 0.2' g

0.1

(a)
0.0 -0.001

Volumatric strain (%)

(c)
Fig. 4. In (a), fracturing patterns due to a uniaxial compressive strain test. The discrete elements are represented as black circles. Conjugate fractures are observed. In (b) stress-strain curves obtained for compressive and tensile strain tests. For a given ~N/Os obtained from a Mohr's diagram, here ON is chosen to obtain a compressional strength of 3.4 108 Pa. In (c) the volumetric strain curve obtained for a uniaxial compressive strain test. During the elastic phase, the volume decreases then increases during the fracturing phase.

pressure exceeds the dynamic strength of the medium. This crushed zone grows during the source pressure rise which lasts about 50/~s [see Fig. 6(a, b)]. In this zone, all links between elements have been ruptured and compaction of elements has occurred. This represents the collapse of the intercrystalline or intergrain structure of rocks as well as the observed compaction of grains [24]. The ratio d of the crushed zone thickness relative to the blast cavity diameter is about 5. This is within the range observed in laboratory experiments which is from I to 10 [24].

Growth of the long radial fractures

Once the creation of the crushed zone nears its end, more localized fractures appear at the edge of the crushed zone and grow radially without preferential directions and for about 100/~sec [see Fig. 6(c, d)]. This time frame includes the source pressure fallout and beyond. Although the trend of these fractures is linear some local branching may be seen. Different rupture velocities are observed for different fractures. These crack velocities range L o m 1555 to 3888 m/s. Such a diversity is also observed in experiments where, as here, the longer the fracture, the higher the crack velocity [6]. The average crack velocity is lower than 0.92 times the shear velocity of the medium (4330 m/sec). This agrees with theoretical results which state that the crack velocity should not exceed the Rayleigh wave velocity which in turn is approximately 0.92 times the shear wave velocity in a uniform medium [25,26].

Initiation of the long radial fractures

While the crushed zone continues to expand, some localization is visible for some of the cracks. This is the first step in the initiation of the long radial fractures which start within the crushed zone but are still dominated by the intense crushing which is taking place.

1158

DONZE et al.: MODELING FRACTURES IN ROCK BLASTING Table 2. Simulation parameters Cavity radius re Source peak pressure Source central frequency Boundary conditions Values 0.025 m 1 GPa 10,000 Hz Free on all sides

Table 1. )14jand D, -~ = o represent average values of mass and distance between elements i and j Macroscopic properties Young's modulus Poisson's ratio Compressional strength Tensile strength Size of the 2D plate Density Compressional wave velocity Shear wave velocity Values 1.0 x 10n Pa 0.09 3.4 x 108 Pa 6.0 x 107 Pa 1.0 m x 1.0 m 2950 kg/m3 6730 m/s 4330m/s Local parameters Values kN ks/kN ~N ~N/~S Elements 2~rf ~ kNR~ 1.0 x 10" N/m 0.6 5 x 105 N/m 0.33 46,000 6.34 x 10-2 kg 1.3 kN
0.66

kNR1/k~R2
r~ q

1.4 x /9~ 0rn 4.1 x 103 Ns/m

Mechanisms associated with the fracturing process

In o r d e r to d e t e r m i n e which m e c h a n i s m s are responsible for the c r e a t i o n o f the crushed zone a n d the long r a d i a l fractures, the m e a n i n t e r a c t i o n forces between two elements are c a l c u l a t e d at f o u r l o c a t i o n s labelled R 1 - R 4 . These are at 0.15, 0.225, 0.25 a n d 0.35 m f r o m the cavity center [see Fig. 7(a)]. T o a v o i d erratic values, the m e a n local stress is c a l c u l a t e d as the

average o f 20 interactions between n e i g h b o u r i n g elements. T h e sizes o f the local m e a s u r i n g zones are smaller t h a n the size o f the cavity. P a r t o f the l o a d i n g p a t h for these p o i n t s is p l o t t e d on Fig. 7(b). T w o distinct steps are noted: first a b i - c o m p r e s s i o n a l o n g b o t h the r a d i a l a n d t a n g e n t i a l directions followed by a r a d i a l c o m p r e s s i o n c o m p o n e n t a n d a tangential tensile stress c o m p o n e n t . A third step o f bi-tensile stress exists b u t is n o t shown here because the fractures t a k e place b e f o r e h a n d . A t R1 l o c a t e d closest to the source a n d within the crushed zone, only a b i - c o m p r e s s i o n a l e v o l u t i o n is seen. This c o r r e s p o n d s to the c o m p a c t i o n effects where all the elements are p u s h e d against one a n o t h e r since all their links have b r o k e n , i.e. they are all in a compressive state. A fracture labelled F grows in the vicinity o f the r e m a i n i n g three p o i n t s R2, R3, R 4 [see Fig. 7(a)]. It can be seen t h a t the r u p t u r e tip successively

-0.5

O.Om

0.5 0.5

(a)

O.Om

-0.5

0.04
1e09 -

~0 5e,+08.

-0,04 -0.04
O.OOm (b)

e~
0 0.0000 0.0001 0.0~

0.04

Time

(s)

(c)

Fig. 5. In (a) the two-dimensional plate made up of 46,000 discrete elements is 1 m 1 m. The explosion cavity in the center has been created. In (b) a zoom on the explosion cavity is seen with the source function symbolized here by arrows on all the elements making up the cavity wall. In (c) the Gaussian source function is given. This reference source has a peak pressure of 1 GPa and a central frequency of 10,000 Hz.

DONZE et al.: MODELING FRACTURES IN ROCK BLASTING reaches the points during the tangential tensile stress stage at times, t2 = 144 x 1 0 - 6 S, t3 = 147 x 1 0 - 6 s and t4 = 240 x 10 -6 S. At these times a tensile release can be observed on the curves. This release is more important at R3 because the fracture F goes through the measuring point. This shows that the tensile component of the stress wave weakens the medium in front of the rupture tip thus easing the propagation of the fracture. This mechanism agrees with theoretical models which state that radial fracturing is produced by the tangential tensile stress component ( H o o p stress) of the elastic wave [2].
Boundary conditions

1159

Fig. 8). However because of the strong damping in the medium, the reflected waves have little effect on the re-orientation of the radial cracks and no effect on the creation of the crushed zone. In these conditions, rigid or free boundaries exhibit no significant differences. Despite the small size of the plate an infinite medium could be approached. CONTROLLING THE EFFECTS OF THE SOURCE It has been seen that the generation of fracture patterns around the blasthole can be controlled by designing sources with different pressures and frequencies. In experiments performed at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) [17], a high amplitude cavity pressure source with a high central frequency produces a large crushed zone but relatively few long radial fractures. A lower amplitude cavity pressure source with a lower central frequency results in a smaller crushed zone with an increase of longer radial fractures. To model this fracture pattern evolution, a series of tests was run with variable source frequency and pressure contents. These source functions do not take

The boundary conditions can affect the propagation of the long radial fractures. Because a rigid boundary condition implies that the elements making it up are not allowed to move in any direction, the precursor elastic wave impinging on such a boundary has a dramatically decreased tangential tensile stress component. This does not permit the opening of the cracks at the tip of the propagating fracture. Hence, the long radial fractures will be shorter than for a free boundary condition (see

0.5

0.0~

-0.5 t
---

0.00008 s (a)

t = 0.0001 s (b)

t = 0.00015 s (c)

t = 0.00025 s (d)

Fig. 6. Stages of the fracturing process in the reference case. Each black dot represents a rupture event between two discrete elements. In (a) intense crushing is taking place around the explosion cavity. In (b) the source function has reached the peak pressure, radial cracks are localized but the crushing is still dominant. In (c) crushing has stopped and the radial fractures are growing to finally reach (d) where the growth of the fractures has stopped. The average velocities for fl, f2, f3 and f4 are 3888, 2333, 1666 and 1555m/s, respectively.

1160

DONZE et al.: MODELING FRACTURES IN ROCK BLASTING it is meant that long radial fractures are produced with a minimal crushed zone. Conversely, a long cumulative fracture length is also obtained by decreasing the source central frequency. In this case, the growth of the crushed zone is not as significant as for increasing wall pressures. The most efficient source will be one with a low frequency content but with a sufficiently high cavity wall pressure. This sufficient pressure level is somewhere between the compressive and tensile strength of the rock [27]. This suggests that, for a high frequency source function most of the energy is spent in the creation of the crushed zone while, for a lower frequency source function more energy is spent in the creation of long radial fractures. In the mining industry where blasting technology is well understood, this effect is obtained by decoupled sources [27]. Decoupling generates a slower pressure rise and a lower peak pressure which here is done by decreasing both the frequency content and the peak pressure.

R4q
R3~ R2~ RI

t = 0.00025 s (a)

71

"[-7"

Y
0

-07le~-07 2e'+07

EFFECTS

OF A

PRE-EXISTING COMPRESSIVE LOAD

-50+07 -40+07 -3e07 -2e+07 -le+07

Tangential stress (Pa)

(b)
Fig. 7. In (a) a schematic diagram of the position of measuring locations R1, R2, R3 and R4 in the referencecase at 0.150, 0.225, 0.250 and 0.350 m from the explosion cavity center. The final stage of the fracturing process for this explosion experiment is represented and fracture F is located near the measuring points. In (b) the radial stress versus the tangential stress is plotted for these points. Times t2 = 144 x 10 6s, t3 = 147 x 10-6 s and t4 = 240 x 10-6 s correspond to the arrival times of the crack tip F in the vicinity of R2, R3 and R4, respectively.The crack tip arrives during the compression-tensilestress phase.

into account the gas contribution and are thus simplified relative to the original SNL source functions. Hence, a qualitative comparison was made and similarities in the fracture patterns were found. The numerical results are shown in Fig. 9(a, b and c). The question then arises about the relative importance of the cavity wall pressure and frequency in the creation of the crushed zone and the long radial fractures. Tests are run where the frequency and the pressure vary independently. These results are plotted in Fig. 10. For increasing frequencies at a constant cavity wall pressure of 1 GPa, in (a) is plotted the thickness of the crushed zone relative to the borehole diameter while in (b) is plotted the cumulative fracture length longer than the diameter of the cavity relative to the borehole diameter. In (c) and (d) they are plotted as a function of the wall pressure for a constant source frequency of 10 MHz. As the pressure increases, the cumulative fracture length increases but so does the crushed zone. Therefore, solely increasing the pressure of the source will not lead to efficient fracturing. By efficient, for most applications,

To study the effects on the rock fracture orientation resulting from a blast taking place in a pre-stressed environment, the sample is subjected to an initial uniaxial deformation. A vertical displacement is imposed on the elements of the top and bottom edges until the sample has reached a compressive deformation of 0.125% This corresponds to a preloading of 194 MPa. After this deformation is over, the elements of the top and bottom edges are only allowed to move laterally. On the other two edges, free boundary conditions are given [see Fig. ll(b)]. The centered explosion which is a Gaussian as in the reference case, follows this loading and has a central frequency of 10,000 Hz, with a peak pressure on the cavity wall of 1 GPa. Figure 11 clearly demonstrates that fractures are aligned in the direction of the principal stress axis. Comparable results are often observed for in s i t u and laboratory experiments [2]. CONCLUSIONS This work presented a numerical study of the very first dynamic step of an explosion. The goal was to reproduce the creation of the crushed zone and the radial fractures resulting from the cavity blast. The mechanism involved in these fracturing processes agreed well with what is observed and expected theoretically. The compressive front of the elastic wave was shown to be responsible for the formation of the crushed zone, as long as its amplitude is large relative to the compressive strength of the material. Furthermore, the tensile tail of the elastic wave contributes to the creation of the radial fractures and is the driving m o t o r for their growth. The crack velocities obtained in the model are consistent with observations. They demonstrate the variability of these velocities during an explosive event [6]. The effects of boundary conditions were overriden as much as possible by introducing damping. Nonetheless, it was verified

DONZE et al.:

M O D E L I N G F R A C T U R E S IN ROCK BLASTING

1161

I
O.Om

t"

,.,:

j
-0.5
i

J
i

(a)

(b)

Fig. 8. In (a) the reference sample with free boundary conditions on all sides is shown at time t = 0.0025 s. In (b) the same explosion parameters have been used on a plate which now has rigid boundary conditions on all sides. Radial fractures are shorter due to the lack of possible tensile stress opening at the edges of the plate. Reorientation of the fractures is not visible because of the damping used in the model.

that this damping did not affect the fracturing mechanisms. The source effects were studied by varying its pressure and frequency content. Their role in the evolution of both the crushed zone and the radial fracture is clearly 0.5

predominant. Decreasing the frequency content while keeping a sufficient peak pressure will dramatically improve the efficiency of the fracturing process when deterioration around the explosion cavity must be minimum and a limited number of long radial fractures

Jf $}"

O.Om

-0.5

t
I I

(a)
I

(b)

..~~-'. '""'; i.

"

'911,a, 'oi,.Ol :::ti,

(b)
0.0000 0,0001 0.0002 0.0003

/:i ;\.
I

o.ooo4

Time (s)

(c)
Fig. 9. The bottom right plot represents three different source functions which correspond respectively to the simulations shown in (a), (b) and (c). The reference sample is given in (b). For a source with a higher frequency and pressure, the crushed zone is slightly larger and the radial fractures are shorter as in (a). For a source with a low frequency and pressure as in (c), the crushed zone is smaller and the radial fractures are longer.
R M M $ 34/8--C

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DONZt~ et al.:

M O D E L I N G F R A C T U R E S IN R O C K B L A S T I N G

Source (1 Gpa)

Source (1 Gpa)

.~8 "1o

100~t
"o o 80 ,i=
\

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\

60 40

~3 E2 o 0.5

,,q

Frequency Hz x 104
(a) Source (10Mhz) E 100
,m

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I.L

20 0.5

1.5 2 2.5 4 Frequency Hz XlO (b) Source (10Mhz)

"o o

"6 80
..:
I / I

s" I

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r-

-Q 60
/
/ /
. . . .

E~ o

2 3 4 Wall pressure (Gpa) (c)

u.

2 3 4 Wall pressure (Gpa) (d)

Fig. 10. The reference sample is subjected to different source functions. In (a) and (b) the peak pressure is kept constant at 1 G P a and the frequency is allowed to vary. In (a) the size of the crushed zone and in (b) the cumulative fracture length are plotted versus the frequencies. The lower the frequency the higher the cumulative fracture length with a small increase of the crushed zone. In (c) and (d) the size of the crushed zone and the cumulative fracture length are plotted for sources with a constant central frequency but varying wall pressure peaks. The higher the pressure, the longer the cumulative fracture length but with a dramatic increase of the size of the crushed zone.

0.5

.I

.~.. ?'
, ~ '.~"

O.Om

-0.5

"

(a)

(b)

Fig. 11. In (a) the reference sample and in (b) the same sample has now been subjected to a uniaxial preloading of 194 MPa. The fractures align in the main direction of stress.

must be obtained. This result agrees with the observations and the techniques already in use in the mining industry such as source decoupling technology. The model provides the bases for the quantification of the effects of the explosive source on its surrounding environment. Finally, it has been shown that the existence of a pre-existing stress field considerably affects the fracture

orientation, in complete agreement with observations [2]. It is possible to extend the study to explosive events of in situ rock masses at depth. The experiments described in this work dealt with the effects of the source and the confining pressure on a particular rock sample representative of a hard and dense rock. Obviously, the mechanical properties of the

DONZI~ et al.:

MODELING FRACTURES IN ROCK BLASTING

1163

rock play a major role in the fracturing process. This was not considered here but this discrete element method can take into account various complex features such as porosity, permeability, geometrical disorder, elastic properties, strength properties and friction. It was our choice to limit this investigation to the initial fracturing process. Work is underway to explore the relation between rock properties and fracturing.
Acknowledgements --This work has been funded in part by LDG-CEA (Laboratoire de Drtection et de G~ophysique, Commissariat gt l'l~nergie Atomique, France), and NSERC (Natural Science and Engineering Research Council, Canada). The graphics were produced using GMT software. FD and SAM would like to thank Jean-Claude Mareschal for helpful discussions and for welcoming them in his research group. Accepted for publication 15 June 1997

REFERENCES
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