Safety Science 50 (2012) 19131916

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Safety Science
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ssci

Design of blasting pattern in proportion to the peak particle velocity (PPV): Articial neural networks approach
H. Bakhshandeh Amnieh , A. Siamaki, S. Soltani
Dep. of Mining Eng., University of Kashan, Kashan 87317-51167, Islamic Republic of Iran

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Ground vibration is a side effect of blasting and causes the destruction of buildings and other surrounding facilities. Different damage mitigation standards have been presented in this connection. Ground vibration is affected by parameters of blasting pattern design, distance from blasting site and explosive weight. In this research, ground vibrations data generated by 20 blasts in Sarcheshmeh copper mine, Kerman, at 47 locations have been recorded. The articial neural network (ANN) has been trained using these peak particle velocity (PPV) data and other parameters such as block volume and explosive type employed. The trained network is capable of presenting appropriate specications for the safe blasting pattern, considering the structure in question and its allowable vibration. The network outputs include burden, spacing and total weight of explosive used. To verify training corrections, network was tested and correlation coefcients of 0.651, 0.77 and 0.963 were obtained for the total explosive weight, burden and spacing, respectively. The effects of explosive type were studied with due regards to recorded data. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 9 August 2011 Received in revised form 1 March 2012 Accepted 4 May 2012 Available online 15 June 2012 Keywords: Ground vibration Blasting pattern Neural network Peak particle velocity

1. Introduction Although a small proportion of the energy released by explosives are consumed in the mass excavation of rocks (Singh, 2006), blasting remains an important practical option as far as cost advantages and ease of operation are concerned (Rai and Singh, 2004). Vibrations due to blasting cause the energy of explosive to transfer. The disturbance ensued spreads inside the rock mass in the form of stress waves and source energy is transferred in the form of energy ux (Srbulov, 2010). Transferred energy induces vibrations inside the rockmass and on the ground surface. Surface waves cause vibrations in the nearby structures. When wave frequency is in the range of the normal frequency of the structure it will result in more damages due to the resonance phenomenon. Blasting pattern parameters such as number of blast holes, diameter, depth, spacing and burden, stemming height, maximum weight of the explosive per delay and horizontal distance from measuring point inuence greatly vibration and fragmentation caused by blasting operations (Singh and Singh, 2005). A large number of correlations have been presented by researchers for blasting patterns design. Those presented by Pearse (1995), Allsman (1960) and Speath (1960) are based on explosive specications and rock mass strength. They did not include however explosive type and weight, as well as rockmass characteristics, as their inuence were difcult to quantify. In Ash, (1968)
Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 913 3156035; fax: +98 361 5552292.
E-mail address: bakhshandeh@kashanu.ac.ir (H. Bakhshandeh Amnieh). 0925-7535/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2012.05.008

presented a simple relation for determining burden based on blast hole diameter. Livingston (1956) had suggested a relation to determine burden based on Cratering Theory (Bhandari, 1997). Other blasting parameters such as spacing, stemming and sub-drilling were introduced using burden. Most of the correlations presented for burden determination are pivoted on rock characteristics, blast hole diameter and explosive properties. Many do not consider however vibrations caused by blasting. Hence, a method for blasting patterns design is presented in this study in which blasting vibrations is considered. It should be mentioned however, that due to lack of access to geological characteristics, the corresponding parameters are not included in this study, and should be included in furthering this work. ANN technique, developed since 1980s and was extensively used in solving complex engineering problems. It is capable of predicting a generalized solution from the patterns obtained during training and previous learning (Dehghani and Ataee-pour, 2011). PPV is an important parameter in blasting and many attempts in estimating it have been carried out by Singh and co-workers using ANN (Singh et al., 1994, 2004, 2008; Singh and Premkrishnan, 2000; Singh, 2004; Khandelwal and Singh, 2006; Sawmliana et al., 2007; Mohammad, 2009). Blast design and explosive parameters were incorporated (Singh and Verma, 2010) in an ANFIS model to calculate blast frequency by generating a sugeno type fuzzy inference system. In their recent work Verma and Singh (2011) employed genetic algorithm (GA) and incorporated several blast design and explosive parameters to predict PPV and following a comparative study have suggested better performance of GA over

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the conventional empirical equations and ANN for their respected results. In this study, using blasting vibration data recorded in Sarcheshmeh Copper mine and their corresponding patterns, a network for designing the appropriate pattern for a specic PPV was trained. 2. Ground vibration data Ground vibration data were obtained from blastings at Sarcheshmeh copper mine, Kerman, using PDAS-100 (3-component seismographs) and L-4C (3-component seismometer). Seismometers were mounted in three directions (radial, tangential and vertical). Explosives were ANFO and Emulan with the minimum weight of 1290 kg and maximum weight of 26,000 kg, the minimum number of blast holes was 19 and the maximum was 73, the least measured distance was 410 m and the most was 3825 m. Considering the effect of the PPV on the design of blasting pattern, the total resultant of the PPV was analyzed by relation 1 below (Najm et al., 2002):

Fig. 2. PPV versus scaled distance for data collected at Sarcheshmeh copper mine, Kerman.

PPV

q PPV V 2 PPV r 2 PPV l 2

Fig. 1 shows maximum PPV versus dominant frequency of the data generated at Sarcheshmeh copper mine, Kerman. As shown, the recorded dominating frequency varies in a range of 220 Hz. According to USBM standard (1980), the potential damage to residential buildings due to blasting vibration frequencies of less than 40 Hz is more than those of 40 Hz and above. Also, for frequencies of less than 40 Hz, a PPV range between 19.05 mm/s (for modern structures) and 12.7 mm/s (for older structures with plaster walls) were proposed; the lowest limit suggested is 13 mm/s for plaster walls (California Department of Transportation, 2004; Dyno Nobel). Considering the above standards, blasts with vibrations greater than 12.7 mm/s become signicant. All blast vibrations recorded with frequencies more than 12 Hz, were carried out by Emulan due to the high strength of this explosive compared with ANFO. As demonstrated in Fig. 2, PPV caused by Emulan blasting is more than that by ANFO for an equal scaled distance; for a scaled distance of 10, Emulans PPV is 24 times that of ANFO. Considering above, use can be made of ANFO for blasts near vulnerable regions and civilian structures. A combination of Emulan and ANFO may also be suggested in appropriate weight ratio for such applications as well as wet blast-hole conditions. 3. Articial neural network

two distinct characteristics. Firstly, data is generated through a trial and error learning process and secondly, neurons connections, known as weight are used to save data (Rojas, 1996; Bakhshandeh Amnieh et al. 2010). Multi-layer perception (MLP), is employed in this technique which consists of at least three layers: input, output and intermediate or hidden layers. The number of hidden layers and neurons selected depends on complexity of the problem to be solved (Monjezi et al., 2011). For the rst time in 1986, Rumelhart proposed back propagation algorithm (BPA) for training of the MLP networks and determination of weights (Bakhshandeh Amnieh et al. 2010). BPA is the most versatile and robust technique and provides efcient learning procedure for MLP. The fact that BPA are especially capable of solving predictive problems makes them very popular (Khandelwal and Singh, 2009). BPA is used for convergence towards the least error. In these networks, the weights and the biases are updated in every training period and these changes are made for minimizing the network operation function. Operation function nds the error between the network output and the real one for which use is usually made of the mean square error function. Data processing details are described in several publications and to give a background here we repeat the explanation of Singh and his co-workers. In a network, the jth neuron, in the hidden layer, is connected to a number of inputs:

xi x1 ; x2 ; x3 ; . . . ; xn
The net input values in the hidden layer will be
n X xi wij hj i1

Netj
Articial neural network is an information-processing system which tries to emulate data processing ability of human brain with

where xi are the input units, wij are the weights on the connection of the ith input and jth neuron, hj is the bias neuron (optional) and n is the number of input units. The net output from hidden layer is calculated using a logarithmic sigmoid function

Oj f Net j 1=1 eNetj hj

The total input to the kth unit is

Ok f Net k

In the learning process, the network is presented with a pair of patterns, an input pattern and a corresponding output pattern. The network computes its own output pattern using its weights and thresholds. Now, the actual output is compared with the desired output. Hence, the error at any output in layer k is

el tk Ok
Fig. 1. PPV versus frequencies for data collected from Sarcheshmeh copper mine, Kerman.

where tk is the desired output and Ok is the actual output. The total error function is given by

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n X E 0:5 t k Ok 2 k1

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Table 1 Variation limits of parameters used to train the network. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Parameter Peak particle velocity (mm/s) Distance from blast point (m) Explosive density Extraction block volume (m2) Burden (m) Spacing (m) Charge weight (ton) Range 0.8310.99 7403525 0.81.5 29,760102,000 7.07.5 7.09.5 7.0027.14

Training of the network is basically a process of arriving at an optimum weight space for the network. The steepest descent error surface is made using the following rule:

rW jk gdE=dW jk

where g is the learning rate parameter and E is the error function. The update of weights for the (n + 1)th pattern is given as

W jk n 1 W jk n rW jk n

9
minimum (Petr et al., 2003). The errors of such networks are controlled by the performance function. As mentioned before this function controls training process by controlling error between the output and the real values. In our proposed network, the mean square error function has been chosen as the performance function. The network designed for blasting pattern with 4 hidden layers and one output layer is shown in Fig. 4. Increasing the number of layers and the number of neurons in each layer not only enhances network ability in training, but also increases training time (a limiting element in training). The layers array of this network is in the form {16 14 12 10 3}. In the hidden layers, use has been made of the Sigmoid Tangent function as the transfer function which is able to scale the response in a span of [1, 1]. A linear transfer function was also used in the output layer. The algorithm used in this network is that of LevenbergMarquardt which is a BPA different from GaussNewton optimization method. The weights new order in the K + 1th epoch is calculated according to relation 10.

Similar logic applies to the connections between the hidden and output layers. This procedure is repeated with each pair of training case. Each pass through all the training patterns is called a cycle or epoch. The process is then repeated as many epochs as needed until the error is within the user specied goal (Khandelwal and Singh, 2009). 4. Blasting design algorithm using ANN To train the ANN, 51 sets of data recorded in 20 blasts in Sarcheshmeh copper mine were used: 41 sets to train the network and 10 to test its correctness. Desired PPV, distance between the measuring point and blasting location, density of explosive and volume of extraction block were selected as the network input parameters. Rock mass density was not been considered as an input parameter as it does not alter much in this region. The designed network output contains burden, spacing and total weight of explosive. Fig. 3 illustrates the network back propagation algorithm. Delay time could not be considered as a network output parameter since it varied in different blasting patterns. Table 1 displays variation limits of the above parameters. In all recorded patterns, blast hole depth was 15 m out of which 3.5 m was sub-drilling. Stemming varied between 6 and 7 m. Number of blast holes in each row and the number of rows were determined based on dimensions of the extracted block, geomechanical characteristics of the rock mass and production capacity. Basting delays were determined according to the designers wish considering the dimensions required by fragmentation, y rock, ground vibration and air blast. The network was trained using the BPA which does not always converge to the absolute minimum; it might stop at a local

Wk 1 wk J T J k I1 J T ek

10

where J corresponds to the Jacobs matrix written for each neuron as follows:

2 @e

6 1 6 J6 6 4
@ ep @w1

@w

... ... ... ...

@ e1 @wn

@ ep @wn

2 x11 7 6 7 6 76 7 4 5 @ ep xp 1 @w0
@ e1 @w0

. . . xn1 ... ...

3 11

7 7 7 5 1

. . . xnp

and w is the weight vector, w0 is the neuron bias, e in the error vector (difference between the network and the real outputs). k is the modied parameter based on the error function E. If E decreases in

Fig. 3. Network back propagation algorithm for design pattern of blasts at Sarcheshmeh copper mine, Kerman.

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allowable PPV of the nearby structures. The PPV scaled distance and PPV recorded vibration frequency graphs were investigated too. Results have shown that for equal scaled distances, Emulan explosions create more ground vibration compared with ANFO and for equal PPV, the recorded frequencies for Emulan explosions are also higher. References
Fig. 4. ANN structure for design of the blasting pattern. Allsman, P.L., 1960. Analysis of explosive action in breaking rock. Transactions Society of Mining Engineers, AIME, 217, 468478. Ash, R.L., 1968. The design of blasting rounds. In: Surface Mining, AIME, New York, pp. 373397. Bakhshandeh Amnieh, H., Mozdianfard, M.R., Siamaki, A., 2010. Predicting of blasting vibrations in Sarcheshme copper mine by neural network. Safety Science 48, 319325. Bhandari, S., 1997. Engineering Rock Blasting Operations. A.A. Balkema. Blasting and Explosive Quick Reference Guide. Dyno Nobel. California Department of Transportation, 2004. Transportation and Construction Induced Vibration Guidance Manual. pp. 180190. Dehghani, H., Ataee-pour, M., 2011. Development of a model to predict peak particle velocity in a blasting operation. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences 48, 5158. Dohnal, J., 2004. Using of Levenberg-Marquardt Method in Identication by Neural Network. Dept. of Control and Instrumentation, FEEC, BUT, <http:// www.feec.vutbr.cz/EEICT/2004/sbornik/03-Doktorske_projekty>. Khandelwal, M., Singh, T.N., 2006. Prediction of blast induced ground vibration and frequency in open cast mine: a neural network approach. Journal of Sound and Vibration 289, 711725. Khandelwal, M., Singh, T.N., 2009. Prediction of blast-induced ground vibration using articial neural network. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences 46, 12141222. Livingston, C.W., 1956. Fundamental concept of rock failure. Symposium on Rock Mechanics, Quarterly Colorado School of Mines 51 (3), 114. Mohammad, M.T., 2009. Articial neural network for prediction and control of blasting vibration in Assiut (Egypt) limestone quarry. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Science 46, 426431. Monjezi, M., Ghafurikalajahim, M., Bahrami, A., 2011. Prediction of blast-induced ground vibration using articial neural networks. Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 26, 4650. Najm, K., Javaherian, A., Bakhshandeh Amnieh, H., 2002. Study of blasting vibrations in Sarcheshmeh copper mine. Acta Seismologica Sinica 15, 683690. Pearse, G.E., 1995. Rock Blasting- some aspects on the theory and practice. Mine and Quarry Engineering 25, 2530. Petr, V, Simoes, M.G, Rozgonoyi, T.G, 2003. Future Development of Neural Network Prediction for Blasting Design Parameter of Production Blasting. Explosive and Blasting Technique, Holmberg, pp. 625630. Rai, R., Singh, T.N., 2004. A new predictor for ground vibration prediction and its comparison with other predictors. Indian Journal of Engineering and Materials Sciences 11, 178184. Rojas, R., 1996. Neural Network, A Systematic Introduction. Springer. Sawmliana, C., Pal Roy, P., Singh, R.K., Singh, T.N., 2007. Blast induced air overpressure and its prediction using articial neural network. International Journal of Mining Technology 116 (2), 4148. Singh, T.N., 2004. Articial neural network approach for prediction and control of ground vibrations in mines. Mining Technology (Transactions of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy A) 113, A251A257. Singh, T.N., 2006. Prediction of safe charge to control ground vibration in surface mining. Ground Vibration in Mining, pp. 2126. Singh, T.N., Premkrishnan, R., 2000. Ground vibrations due to blasting and its environmental impacts. IM and EJ, 144149. Singh, T.N., Singh, V., 2005. An intelligent approach to prediction and control ground vibration in mines. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering 23, 249262. Singh, T.N., Verma, A.K., 2010. Sensitivity of total charge and maximum charge per delay on ground vibration. Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk 1 (3), 259272. Singh, T.N., Singh, A., Singh, C.S., 1994. Prediction of ground vibration induced by blasting. Indian Mining Engineering Journal, 3134. Singh, T.N., Kanchan, R., Verma, A.K., 2004. Prediction of blast induced ground vibration and frequency using an articial intelligent technique. Blast Induced Ground Vibration and Frequency, 715. Singh, T.N., Dontha, L.K., Bharadwaj, V., 2008. A study into blast vibration and frequency using ANFIS and MVRA. Mining Technology (TIMM A), UK 117 (3), 116121. Speath, G.L., 1960. Formula for proper blast hole spacing. Engineering New Record, 218 (3), 53. Srbulov, M., 2010. Ground Vibration Engineering. Springer, pp. 2228. Verma, A.K., Singh, T.N., 2011. Intelligent system for ground vibration measurement: a comparative study. Engineering with Computers 27, 225233.

Fig. 5. Mean square error versus epochs. Table 2 Variation ranges of the parameters used in the network testing and correlation coefcients of the network responses. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Parameter Peak particle velocity (mm/ s) Distance from blast point (m) Explosive density Extraction block volume (m3) Burden (m) Spacing (m) Charge weight (ton) Range 1.8910.01 885.0023.10 0.81.5 53,760 102,000 7.07.5 7.59.5 15.0026.14 Correlation coefcient 0.7651 0.9648 0.6514

each epoch, it will be acceptable, otherwise k will vary and w(K + 1) is re-calculated (Dohnal, 2004). Fig. 5 below shows that the error of the designed network is 1.65 1012. To verify the training correctness, the network was tested by sets of data and then the correlation coefcient related to each output parameter was studied. Table 2 shows the tested values and the related correlation coefcients. 5. Conclusions Mitigation of ground vibrations caused by blasting diminishes not only damage to the nearby structures, but also the dissatisfaction of people living near the blasting site. In this research, the ANN has been trained for design of blasting patterns with such input parameters as distance from the explosion site, corresponding PPV, explosive density and volume of extracted block. A characteristic of this network is to present a proper pattern considering the