Simulation of Damage Zones

Induced by Destress Blasting

A Sainoki1 and H S Mitri2

ABSTRACT
Destress blasting techniques have been widely employed in underground mines for the purpose of
preconditioning highly stressed rock mass. Appropriate applications of the technique successfully
contribute to increasing mine safety (eg mitigating the risks for rock bursts). This paper presents
a simulation technique to estimate the extent of damage zones induced by destress blasting. A
3D numerical model with a single blasthole is constructed with FLAC3D code, whereby static
analysis is carried out in which horizontal and vertical stresses are applied to the model in order
to simulate stress conditions in a deep underground mine. Afterwards, dynamic analysis is
performed whilst applying time-varying blast pressure along the blasthole. The blast pressure
profile takes into consideration an instantaneous increase and gradual decrease in blast pressure
as well as the propagation of detonation along the blasthole. In this paper, constitutive models
allowing for shear and tensile strengths of rock mass that are dependent upon strain rate are
newly implemented into FLAC3D code with C++ programming language, whereby blast-induced
damage is assessed by the extent of tensile and shear failure zones. The results obtained from the
dynamic analysis show significant decrease in the extent of yielding zones induced by destress
blasting with increasing the magnitude of in situ stress. They indicate that considering in situ stress
state is indispensable in order to propose proper blast design for each level in underground mines.
Based on these results, the relationship between the extent of the damage zone and depth at which
destress blasting is performed is established. Furthermore, stress dissipation induced by destress
blasting is examined with static analyses, in which the modulus of elasticity is decreased according
to a rock fragmentation factor, , only for the area where tensile and shear failures takes place
during the dynamic analyses. A model parametrical study with respect to is undertaken. The
relationship between the rock fragmentation factor and the stress dissipation in the yielding zones
is developed from the parametrical study. The developed relationship can be useful when destress
blasting is designed for massive rock masses.

INTRODUCTION
High stress concentration caused by stress redistribution
resulting from mining activities and/or drift development
at great depth can cause seismic events that induce damage
to underground openings (Ortlepp and Stacey, 1994;
Malek, Suorineni and Vasak, 2009). Alleviating the stress
concentration is of paramount importance for ensuring
workplace safety and maintaining stable production in
deep underground mines. There are a number of techniques
to achieve that. For instance, designing and selecting the
most appropriate mining method and mining sequence can
mitigate the risk for rock bursts and seismic events (Sjberg
etal, 2012; Sainoki and Mitri, 2014a). Destress blasting is
widely known as one of those techniques to mitigate such
high stress environment (Tang and Mitri, 2001; Konicek et al,
2013; Blake, 1972; Saharan and Mitri, 2009).
To date, practical destress blasting has been designed and
performed in not only hard rock underground mines but
also underground coalmines all over the world, such as
South Africa, Canada, and Czech Republic. Andrieux et al
(2003) conduct large-scale destress blasting to reduce stress
in a remnant pillar that was expected to carry high stress
induced by extracting surrounding stopes. The performed
destress blasting successfully changed ground condition
to be less burst-prone by generating fractures inside of the
targeted pillar. Another destress blasting aiming at stress
reduction in a large area is conducted by Konicek et al (2013).
The competent strata subjected to high stress state due to
the extraction of the overlying coal seams is prefractured
by systematic destress blasting. As a result, a coal seam
located below the competent strata was extracted without
experiencing any rock bursts. Other applications of destress
blasting are found in the literature review (Saharan and
Mitri, 2011).
As indicated in the previous studies, destress blasting
needs to be designed so as to maximise the effect of stress
reduction with the generation of fractures inside highly
stressed massive rock mass whilst minimising damage
to neighbouring working areas and important facilities.
Andrieux et al (2003) estimate blast-induced damage with
the vibration contour in rock (VCR) software, which plots

1. Postdoctoral Fellow, McGill University, 3450 University Street, Montreal Quebec H3A 0E8, Canada. Email: atsushi.sainoki@mail.mcgill.ca
2. Professor, McGill University, 3450 University Street, Montreal Quebec H3A 0E8, Canada. Email: hani.mitri@mcgill.ca

11TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ROCK FRAGMENTATION BY BLASTING / SYDNEY, NSW, 2426 AUGUST 2015 245
A SAINOKI AND H S MITRI

vibration contours using the Holmberg-Persson equation

(Holmberg and Persson, 1979). As found in the previous
study (Saharan and Mitri, 2009), the extent of blast-induced
damage (propagation of fractures) significantly changes
depending on not only in situ stress state but also explosive
types, such as emulsion and ANFO explosives. In addition
to that, the propagation of blast-induced stress waves is also
susceptible to in situ stress state (Daehnke, 1997). It is thus
suggested that rigorous methods be employed in order to
determine the design of destress blasting that is suitable to
targeted stress regimes and rock mass conditions.
Blake (1972) proposes a parameter, , in order to take into
account the deterioration of stiffness of rock mass caused by
fractures produced by destress blasting. With the parameter,
the modulus of elasticity of rock mass after destress blasting
is performed is expressed as:

E after = E before # a (1)

where:
Eafter and Ebefore represent moduli of elasticity after and
before performing destress blasting FIG 1 Schematic illustration of destressed area where and are applied.
respectively; thus varies from 0 to 1
Tang and Mitri (2001) introduce an additional parameter,
which takes into consideration an instantaneous stress drop
caused by blast-induced damage. Using the parameter, stress
state after destress blasting is expressed as follows:
v after = v before # a (2)
where:
after and before are stress states after and before destress induced damage. The detailed descriptions on the analyses
blasting respectively
As found from the equation, when = 1, the stresses after
destress blasting become zero, which means the complete
dissipation of stress within the destressed zone. Tang
and Mitri (2001) investigate the effect of destress blasting
on in situ stress state whilst simulating drift advances in
an underground mine. The numerical analysis approach
using the two parameters is found to be promising for the
determination of appropriate destress blasting design since
the two parameters are readily implemented into the elastic
analysis. It should be noted, however, that the areas where
the two parameters are applied need to be estimated properly
prior to the analysis (see Figure 1). Poor estimation of the
destressed area could lead to inappropriate blast design.
The present study aims at estimating the extent of damage
zones induced by destress blasting. In particular, destress
blasting performed during mine drift advances in deep hard
rock mines is examined with numerical simulation. Based on
results obtained from the numerical analyses, the relationship
between the volume of destressed zones and in situ stress
is established. Additionally, the magnitude of a stress drop
due to the failure of rock mass is examined whilst assuming
within the failure zones. Although is not necessarily related
to in particular conditions, such as blocky rock mass (Tang
and Mitri, 2001), a better estimation of for massive rock mass
can be achieved, based on the result.
METHODOLOGY
In order to estimate the extent of damaged zones induced by
destress blasting, a numerical model with a single blasthole is
constructed by means of FLAC3D, version 4.0 (Itasca, 2009).
First, static analyses are carried out to simulate stress states at
depths in a deep underground mine where destress blasting
is generally performed. The mechanical properties are applied
to the model with Weibulls distribution (Weibull, 1951).
Based on the stress states obtained from the static analyses,
dynamic analyses are performed, in which optimised time-
varying blast pressure (Saharan and Mitri, 2009, 2008) is
applied on the surface of the blasthole. During the dynamic
analyses, strain rate dependency on the strength of rock is
taken into account, whereby yielding zones induced by the
blast around the blasthole are examined as the extent of blast-
are described in this section.
Numerical model
The constructed numerical model is shown in Figure 2. As
can be seen in the figure, the model is a rectangular cuboid,
which is 4 m in height, 4 m in width and 7 m in length. Inside
the model, the cylindrical blasthole is modelled, which is 6 m
in length and 0.1 m in diameter. As shown in the figure, only
a small part of the blasthole is blasted, which is 0.6 m (2 feet)
in length. The length of the blasthole is designed, assuming
destress blasting for a mine drift face advance (Tang and
Mitri, 2001). Hence, the present study especially focuses on
destress blasting for mine development. In the case of such
large-scale destress blasting conducted by Andrieux et al
(2003), a much larger numerical model would be suitable.
In order to simulate damage zones due to the blast, the model
is densely discretised, generating extremely fine meshes with
the edge length of 1 cm near the blasthole, especially around
the toe. The mesh density in the model decreases towards the
model boundaries, where no damage zones take place. In this
way, computation time is saved without losing its accuracy.
The total number of zones and grid points in the model are
156 000 and 162011, respectively.
Mechanical properties of rock mass
As mentioned in the introduction, the present study focuses on
destress blasting performed in hard rock mines. Considering
the fact, the modelled destress blasting in Figure1 is assumed
to be performed in massive granite. Table 1 lists the mechanical
properties of granite. In the table, modulus of elasticity, E,
uniaxial compressive strength, c, Poissons ratio, , and unit
weight of rock mass, , are taken from the case study conducted
by Malek, Suorineni and Vasak (2009). The friction angle, , is
based on the triaxial tests of granite performed by Yun (2008).

246 11TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ROCK FRAGMENTATION BY BLASTING / SYDNEY, NSW, 2426 AUGUST 2015
 SIMULATION OF DAMAGE ZONES INDUCED BY DESTRESS BLASTING

FIG 3 Weibulls distribution when u0 = 1 and m = 1.5.

Equation 3, according to which heterogeneity of tensile

FIG 2 Numerical model with a single blasthole.
The tensile strength is obtained from direct tensile strength
tests performed for an Australian granite (Alehossein and
Boland, 2004). Note that it is well-known that the strength of
rock is not spatially homogeneous even within the same type
of rock. In order to take into account the heterogeneity of rock,
Weibulls distribution (Weibull, 1951) is widely employed
for the numerical simulation of fracture propagation within
rock (Zhu et al, 2013; Cho, Ogata and Kaneko, 2003; Cho et al,
2003b). In the present study, the tensile strength and cohesion
are applied to the model, according to random numbers
satisfying Weibulls distribution. The adopted statistical
equation representing Weibulls distribution (Zhu et al, 2013)
is expressed as follows:
strength and cohesion is realised in the model. Note that the
average value of cohesion is calculated from the friction and
uniaxial compressive strength of granite in Table 1. Figure 4
shows tensile strength simulated with Weibulls distribution
in the model. In order to prevent unrealistically high strength
from being generated, the maximum value of the property
is set to 1.5 times that of the average value in Table 1 when
the random number is obtained. It is conceivable that part
of rock has quite low strength due to inherent fractures and
cracks, but it is not realistic that rock has significantly high
strength.
Initial stress state
Destress blasting is generally performed in deep underground
mines where high stress environment is present. Hence,

u m-1 u m
f ]ug = m d u n exp >- d u n H (3)
u0 0 0

where:
u and u0 are a mechanical property and its average value
respectively
m represents the degree of heterogeneity
The material becomes more homogeneous with an
increasing m. In the present study, m is set to 1.5, and Weibulls
distribution with the m when u0 = 1 is plotted in Figure 3.
FISH programming language, which is embedded in
FLAC3D, is used to generate random numbers satisfying FIG 4 Tensile strength of each zone given by Weibulls distribution.

TABLE 1
Rock mass mechanical properties.

Rock type E: elastic c: uniaxial : friction : Poissons : unit weight T : tensile : dilation
modulus compressive angle ratio strength angle
strength
Granite 60 GPa 240 MPa 63 0.26 25.5 kN/m3 11 MPa 8.75

11TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ROCK FRAGMENTATION BY BLASTING / SYDNEY, NSW, 2426 AUGUST 2015 247
A SAINOKI AND H S MITRI
the stress-depth relationships obtained from the case study
for a deep underground mine in Canada (ODonnell, 1992)
are employed in the present study. Vertical and horizontal
stresses at a given depth are calculated from the following
equations:
v1 = 0.042 # D + 10.35 (4)
v2 = 0.033 # D + 8.69 (5)
v3 = 0.029 # D (6)
where:
1 denotes maximum horizontal stress
2 denotes minimum horizontal stress
3 denotes vertical stress
D represents a depth from the surface
Note that the unit of calculated stresses from those equations
is MPa. In the present study, stress states at depths of 1000m, and Vasconcelos, 2012). The simulated stress-strain curve is
2000 m and 3000 m are calculated from the equations, and a
model parametrical study is undertaken based on the stress
states. In addition to the depth, the effect of the orientation of
the blasthole on the extent of damage zones is also examined
since blastholes for destress blasting are generally drilled in
various directions (Tang and Mitri, 2001).
Constitutive model applied to the model
In the present study, a new constitutive model is developed
and implemented into FLAC3D using C++ programming
language. With the constitutive model, brittle failure of rock
that allows for strain-rate dependency of rock on its strength is
simulated. It is widely recognised that when load is applied to
a rock specimen, its strength significantly changes, depending
on strain rate. To date, extensive studies have been undertaken
to examine the characteristics of rock strength under high
strain rate (Cho, Ogata and Kaneko, 2003; Hao and Hao, 2013;
Kubota et al, 2008; Lajtai, Scott Duncan and Carter, 1991; Li et
al, 2013; Wu et al, 2012; Xia, 2013; Zhao et al, 2014). It is found
from those studies that the degree of strain rate dependency
on the strength of rock changes depending on rock types. It is
assumed that a number of factors, such as rock composition
and thermal histories, affect the characteristics. More
importantly, Hao and Hao (2013) indicate that the dynamic
increase factor (DIF), by which static strength is multiplied,
obtained from experiments is affected by many factors,
such as lateral inertia confinement, friction confinement
between the specimen and impact materials, and the size and
geometries of specimen. Based on the experimental results for
the dynamic strength of rock, the authors propose empirical
equations by eliminating the factors that affects experimental
results. The obtained equations, which describe the relation
between the increase in the strength of rock and strain rate,
are given as follows:
CDIF = 0.018668 ^log fo h + 1.291887 for 1s-1 # fo # 220s-1 (7)
CDIF = 1.8547 ^log fo h - 7.9014 ^log fo h + 96674
2
(8)
for 220s-1 # fo # 1000s-1
TDIF = 0.059805 ^log fo h + 1.35883 for 10-6 s-1 # fo # 220s-1 (9)
TDIF = 0.560483 ^log fo h2 + 1.387057 ^log fo h + 2.125599 (10)
for 0.1s-1 # fo # 50s-1
where:
CDIF and TDIF are DIFs for compressive strength and
tensile strength respectively
fo is strain rate
248 11TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ROCK FRAGMENTATION BY BLASTING / SYDNEY, NSW, 2426 AUGUST 2015
It is found from Equation 7 that CDIF cannot be calculated
when the strain rate is less than 1 s-1; however, strain rate
dependency still exists when strain rate is below that level.
Hence, in the dynamic analysis, Equation 7 is applied when
10-6 s-1 fo 220 s-1, otherwise a great gap occurs at the
moment that strain rate falls below 1 s-1. Both CDIF and TDIF
are set to 1.0 when strain rate falls below 10-6 s-1. When strain
rate exceeds the maximum value in the range (1000 s-1 for
CDIF and 50 s-1 for TDIF), CDIF and TDIF calculated by
substituting the maximum value into Equation 8 and 10 are
used in order to avoid overestimating the dynamic strength.
A new constitutive model that takes into account the strain
rate dependency on the strength of rock is newly implemented
into FLAC3D code. The constitutive model simulates the
brittle failure of rock, which is deemed reasonable since
granite fails in a brittle manner (Ludovico-Marques, Chastre
shown in Figure 5. As can be seen, the maximum compressive
strength is a function of minimum compressive strength and
strain rate. The maximum strength takes into account CDIF
and is expressed as follows:
1 + sin z
v max = v c $ CDIF + $v (11)
1 - sin z 3
where:
max and 3 are the maximum strength and minimum
compressive stress respectively
It is found from Equation 11 that the uniaxial compressive
strength is a function of strain rate. When the maximum
compressive stress reaches the maximum strength, cohesion
is decreased to zero as shown in Figure 5, which represents
brittle failure. As for the behaviour in tension, the tensile
failure criterion is expressed with TDIF as follows:
vT max = vT $ TDIF (12)
where:
Tmax  is tensile strength that considers strain rate
dependency
As can be seen from Figure 5, when tensile stress reaches
the tensile strength, brittle tensile failure is simulated and
modulus of elasticity is decreased to a quite small value. The
FIG 5 Schematic diagram showing a stress-strain curve
simulated with the developed constitutive model.

assumption of the decrease in modulus of elasticity due to
tensile failure is reasonable as the residual tensile strength of
rock is considered zero when rock undergoes brittle tensile
failure. The algorithms that realise the aforementioned
changes in the stresses and material properties due to
the shear and tensile failures of rock are developed and
embedded into FLAC3D. In reality, the friction angle of
granite is assumed to change as well when shear failure takes
place because of the formation of an undulating failure plane;
however, due to the lack of information, the present study
assumes that the friction angle remains the same after shear
failure takes place.
Analysis procedure
Figure 6 shows the analysis procedure. As can be seen from
the figure, static analyses are first conducted. During the
static analysis, the model boundaries are fixed in the direction
perpendicular to the boundaries and stresses calculated
from Equations 4 to 6 are applied to each zone. The static
analyses continued until the stress state reaches equilibrium.
As mentioned previously, a model parametrical study with
respect to stress state is undertaken. Thus, the static analyses
are conducted for each stress state assuming different depths.
After obtaining the static stress states, dynamic analyses are
performed in which time-varying blast pressure is applied
on the surface of the blasthole. The detailed description on
FIG 6 Analysis procedure.
11TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ROCK FRAGMENTATION BY BLASTING / SYDNEY, NSW, 2426 AUGUST 2015
SIMULATION OF DAMAGE ZONES INDUCED BY DESTRESS BLASTING
the time-varying blast pressure is given in the later section.
During the dynamic analyses, the boundary condition is
changed to viscous, which is based on the use of independent
dashpots in the normal and shear directions on the model
boundaries. The dashpots absorb the energy in stress waves
generated by the blast pressure and prevent the waves from
reflecting on the model boundaries.
A time-step used in the dynamic analysis is automatically
optimised on the basis of the volume of each zone of
the model, P-wave velocity derived from the rock mass
mechanical properties, and the face area of each zone (Itasca,
2009). The actual time step used during the dynamic analyses
is 2.835 10-8 s. The dynamic analyses are continued until
0.001 s. The elapsed time is found to be sufficient in order to
simulate damage zones induced by the simulated blast. No
change in the extent of damage zones is observed after the
elapsed time.
Blast pressure profile
To date, a number of formulae have been developed and
employed to simulate detonation pressure and gas expansion
(Lima et al, 2002; Liu and Katsabanis, 1997; Cho et al, 2003a)
as reviewed by Saharan and Mitri (2009). Among them,
the Jones-Wilkens-Lee (JWL) equation of state is widely
used because of its simplicity (Wei and Zhao, 2008; Itoh
etal, 2002; Wang, Li and Shen, 2007). An exponential decay
function is also used to simulate borehole pressure (Sainoki
and Mitri, 2014b; Emad, Mitri and Kelly, 2014). Saharan
and Mitri (2009) indicate that the parameters used in those
equations are difficult to obtain for non-ideal detonation
of ANFO-type explosives that are often used for destress
blasting in underground mines. The authors additionally
indicate that the physical significance of the parameters is
uncertain. Thus, the present study adopts an optimised blast
pressure profile proposed by Saharan and Mitri (2009). As
the optimised blast pressure is proposed for 2D analysis, the
propagation of detonation along the blasthole is newly taken
into consideration in this study. A similar optimised blast
pressure function is found in other studies; eg Sharafisafa
and Mortazavi (2011) examine the effect of stress waves
induced by a blast on a fault using a simple optimised blast
pressure profile.
Figure 7 plots the load amplitude of the optimised blast
pressure profile, by which peak borehole pressure is
multiplied before being applied to the surface of the blasthole.
The load amplitude takes the maximum value 100 after the
onset of a blast. Afterwards, it drastically decreases as shown
in the figure. Although the optimised profile is proposed
for a 38 mm diameter borehole, the same profile is used in
the present study. Since a dominant factor that determines
the rise time of explosion pressure is a type of explosives
(Saharan and Mitri, 2009), it is assumed that the proposed
blast pressure profile is applicable to the current model.
As mentioned earlier, the propagation of detonation along
the blasthole is taken into account in the present study. The
time at which pressure starts to rise at a given point, A, in
Figure 8 is calculated by dividing the distance between the
point and the toe of the blasthole by detonation velocity. In
this study, ANFO is presumed to be the explosive for destress
blasting. According to Adams, Gay and Cross (1993), velocity
of detonation is 4700 m/s when ANFO explosive is blasted
in 76 and 86 mm diameter boreholes. In this study, the same
value is used. Saharan and Mitri (2009) estimate the peak
borehole pressure of ANFO explosive at 2.5 GPa for boreholes
with the diameter of 76 and 89 mm. The value is adopted
and it is multiplied by the load amplitude shown in Figure 7
249
A SAINOKI AND H S MITRI
FIG 7 Optimised load amplitude.
FIG 8 Schematic diagram showing the propagation of
detonation and blast pressure at a given point.
during the dynamic analysis. In this way, time-varying blast
pressure applied to the surface of the blasthole is computed.
Damage criteria
As illustrated in Figure 1, proper estimation of damage zones
to which the two parameters, and , are applied is crucial in
order to assess the effectiveness of destress blasting with the
simulation technique developed by Blake (1972) and Tang and
Mitri (2001). To date, a number of damage criteria related to blast
vibrations have been proposed. Brinkmann (1987) develops a
chart describing the relation between peak particle velocity and
blast-induced damage to rock mass. Saharan and Mitri (2009)
introduce fracture-length parameters to assess the extent of
damage zones induced by blasts. Zhu et al (2013) examine the
degradation of the modulus of elasticity due to tensile and shear
failures to investigate damage zones after destress blasting. In
the present study, as rigorous relations between strain rate and
the failure strength of rock in tension and shear are employed,
damage zones are examined with the extent of yielding zones
due to tensile and shear failures around the blasthole. The
developed constitutive model makes it possible to simulate the
extent of yielding zones more accurately, considering the strain
250 11TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ROCK FRAGMENTATION BY BLASTING / SYDNEY, NSW, 2426 AUGUST 2015
rate dependency and change in material properties involved in
brittle shear and tensile failures.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In this section, yielding zones (damage zones) obtained
from the dynamic analyses are shown. Based on the results,
the relation between the extent of the damage zones and in
situ stress state is discussed. Afterwards, static analyses are
additionally conducted to estimate a stress drop induced by
destress blasting, assuming the blast-induced degradation of
the modulus of elasticity.
Yielding zones for models with different in situ
stress states
Figure 9 illustrates yielding zones in the model with different
in situ stress states. As mentioned in the previous section,
in order to examine the effect of depth on the efficiency of
destress blasting, the stress states of 1000 m, 2000 m and 3000m
are simulated. Note that the maximum stress calculated from
Equation 4 acts perpendicularly to the blasthole, and the
minimum stress calculated from Equation 6 is applied to the
model as vertical stress. Figure 9 obviously shows that the
efficiency of destress blasting decreases with the increasing
depth. As can be seen in the figure, the extent of yielding
zones is the largest in the stress state of a depth of 1000 m. The
damage zones drastically contract as the depth increases. It
appears that the tensile failure zones are more susceptible to
the in situ stress state. In fact, there is no remarkable difference
in the extent of shear failure zones between stress states for
different depths. The phenomenon is reasonable because the
crucial factors that determine the occurrence of shear failure
are the magnitudes of the minimum principal stress and
deviatoric stress, meaning that the increasing depth is not
necessarily associated with the occurrence of shear failure. In
contrast, tensile failure is directly related to the magnitude of
compressive stress. Thus, the increase in compressive stress
controls the occurrence of tensile failure.
The volume of yielding zones including both of tensile and
shear failures is calculated for the models shown in Figure9.
The relation between the volume and the depth is plotted
in Figure 10. It is evident from the figure that the extent of
yielding zone decreases with the increasing depth. When the
depth is 1000 m, the volume of yielding zones is approximately
1.8 m3, whereas it decreases to about 0.5 m3 when the depth is
3000 m. The difference should not be ignored when destress
blasting is designed. The fitted polynomial curve is shown
in Figure 10, which is helpful when designing destress
blasting at a given depth. The two parameters, and , need
to be applied to only the damage zones. It is expected that
mining depth will continue to increase in order to extract ore
deposits located at great depths all over the world (Snelling,
Godin and McKinnon, 2013). Hence, assuming a depth more
than 3000 m is not unrealistic as stress environment where
destress blasting is performed.
Effect of stress orientation on the extent of
damage zones
In this section, the effect of blasthole orientation on the
efficiency of destress blasting is investigated. The numerical
analyses performed in the previous section assume that
the maximum horizontal stress acts perpendicularly to the
blasthole. In reality, various scenarios can be considered with
respect to the relation between the orientation of a blasthole
and the in situ stress state. In addition, blastholes for destress
blasting are not necessarily drilled in the direction parallel

FIG 9 Yielding zones induced by destress blasting for models with different in situ stress state at depths.
FIG 10 Volume of yielding zones for different depths.
to the drift as shown by Tang and Mitri (2001). Hence, it is
of importance to examine the effect of blasthole orientation.
Based on the principal stresses at a depth of 2000 m, three
situations are considered as shown in Figure 11. For case A
in the figure, the orientation of the blasthole is diagonal to the
maximum principal stress direction. For case B, the blasthole is
parallel to the orientation of the maximum principal stress. For
both cases, the blastholes are drilled horizontally. For caseC,
the maximum principal stress acts perpendicularly to the
blasthole, which is drilled diagonally at 45 from the drift face
as shown in the figure. The numerical model used to simulate
the cases A, B and C is the same as that shown in Figure 2,
11TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ROCK FRAGMENTATION BY BLASTING / SYDNEY, NSW, 2426 AUGUST 2015
SIMULATION OF DAMAGE ZONES INDUCED BY DESTRESS BLASTING
but stresses applied to the model boundaries are modified
according to the relation between the orientation of the
blasthole and the in situ stress state. Figure 12 shows the extent
of yielding zones simulated in the stress states corresponding
to the cases A, B and C in Figure 11. Based on the results, the
volume of yielding zones is calculated. The results are 0.9 m3,
0.82 m3 and 0.94 m3 for case A, B and C respectively. It is found
from the results that the extent of yielding zones is affected by
the orientation of principal stresses to some extent. It should
be noted, however, that there is no noticeable difference in the
volume of yielding zones between the models, compared to
those in Figure 9. In fact, the volume of yielding zone for case
B is 0.87 times that of yielding zones for case C. The difference
is not significant. In contrast, the volume of yielding zones for
the depth of 1000 m is more than three times, compared to that
for the depth of 3000 m. These results indicate that the most
influencing factor that determines the extent of damage zone
is the magnitude of principal stresses (ie the depth at which
destress blasting is performed is crucial). The obtained results
suggest that destress blasting ought to be designed for each
level in an underground mine.
Estimation of a stress drop induced by destress
blasting
In the previous section, the extent of yielding zones is simulated
with the dynamic analyses for different stress states. Based
on the results, a stress drop induced by the yielding zones is
examined (ie the parameter, , in Equation 2 is estimated whilst
assuming the degradation of stiffness of rock mass caused
by destress blasting). Figure 13 illustrates the methodology
to simulate the stress drop. As can be seen in the figure,
the modulus of elasticity is decreased while assuming the
251
A SAINOKI AND H S MITRI

FIG 11 Orientation of destress hole with respect to in situ stress.

FIG 12 Yielding zones for different blasthole orientations shown in Figure 11.

parameter, . It is to be noted that the reduction in the modulus
of elasticity is performed only for the areas where tensile
and shear failures take place during the dynamic analyses.
Subsequently, stresses calculated from the Equation 4 to 6
are applied to the model boundaries while fixing the bottom
boundary in the direction perpendicular to the boundary.
Based on the boundary condition and material properties, static
analyses are newly conducted. The zones to which is applied
are based on the damage zones shown in Figure 9. Accordingly,
the same principal stresses as those for the models in Figure 9
are applied to the model boundaries. Note that the cause for
stress reduction induced by destress blasting is intrinsically

252 11TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ROCK FRAGMENTATION BY BLASTING / SYDNEY, NSW, 2426 AUGUST 2015

FIG 13 Simulation of a stress drop induced by destress blasting.
attributed to the deterioration of rock mass resulting from
the formation of blast-induced cracks and fractures. The rock
fragmentation factor, , represents the deterioration; however,
the degree to which rock mass deteriorates due to destress
blasting cannot be readily estimated unless rigorous field
experiments are conducted. Thus, in the present study, a model
parametrical study with respect to is conducted.
Figure 14 shows one example of the maximum compressive
stress simulated with the methodology when = 0.1 for the
depth of 2000 m. As can be seen in the figure, the areas where
the modulus of elasticity is decreased pick up obviously low
stress compared to the surrounding areas. The result implies
that destress blasting is effective within the damage zones,
given that the modulus of elasticity is sufficiently decreased.
Based on the results obtained from the analyses, stress
reduction within the yielding zones is examined in order to
calculate the stress dissipation factor. The averaged stress
dissipation factor is calculated with the following equation:
/ fVi $ v v1i
p
n
b = 1- i=1 no - blast
(13)
n
/ Vi
i=1
where:
n is the number of zones in the yielding areas
1 is the maximum compressive stress of the zones
obtained from the static analysis shown in Figure 13
no-blast is the maximum compressive stress obtained from a
static analysis without yielding areas
V is the volume of the zones
The calculated stress dissipation factors for different are
plotted in Figure 15. As can be seen in the figure, drastically
FIG 14 Maximum compressive stress simulated
with = 0.1 for the depth of 2000 m.
11TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ROCK FRAGMENTATION BY BLASTING / SYDNEY, NSW, 2426 AUGUST 2015
SIMULATION OF DAMAGE ZONES INDUCED BY DESTRESS BLASTING
increases with the decreasing . For instance, is 0.41 when
= 0.7 for the depth of 1000 m; and increases to 0.84 when
= 0.1. The relationship between and found from the
figure is quite natural because the more intensely rock mass
deteriorates, the more stress is released due to generated
cracks and fractures. It is found from the figure that there is no
noticeable difference in between the depths, indicating that
is not affected by the magnitude of in situ stress. Thus, it means
that if is properly estimated with field experiments, can be
estimated from Figure 15. It should be noted, however, that,
as mentioned by Tang and Mitri (2001), the stress dissipation
factor, , is not necessarily related to the rock fragmentation
factor, , especially for blocky rock mass. Therefore, the
relationship established in the present study is used only for
destress blasting performed in massive rock mass. For other
geological conditions, the estimated stress dissipation factor
needs to be modified appropriately.
CONCLUSIONS
Destress blasting is widely employed in order to alleviate
stress concentration taking place ahead of a drift face in deep
underground mines. Although two parameters, namely a
rock fragmentation factor, , and a stress dissipation factor, ,
have been proposed in order to simulate the geomechanical
effects induced by destress blasting, the extent of damage
zones to which the parameters are applied is not sufficiently
understood. The present study aims at estimating the extent
of damage zones induced by destress blasting performed at
great mining depths. In order to simulate the extent of damage
FIG 15 Estimated for different at different mining depths.
253
A SAINOKI AND H S MITRI
zones, a new constitutive model that allows for the strain-rate
dependency of rock on the tensile and shear failure strengths
is developed, assuming brittle failure. A 3D numerical model
with a single blasthole is constructed. Using the 3D model
and the constitutive equation, static and dynamic analyses
are performed. The static analysis is intended to simulate
in situ stress state at great depths. Based on the stress state
obtained from the static analysis, the dynamic analysis is
conducted in which time-varying blast pressure representing
destress blasting is applied to the surface of the blasthole. The
extent of yielding zones obtained from the dynamic analysis
is examined. The results show that the extent of damage zones
significantly decreases with increasing magnitude of in situ
stress, indicating the decrease in the efficiency of destress
blasting at great depths. It is found that blasthole orientation
does not have a large influence on the extent of blast-induced
yielding zones compared to the magnitude of in situ stress.
The results suggest that destress blasting should be designed
for each level in underground mines. Based on the simulated
yielding zones, is estimated with static analyses in which
the modulus of elasticity is decreased according to assumed
within the yielding zones. The relation between and is
established for destress blasting performed in massive rock
mass. The relation additionally shows that is not affected
by the magnitude of in situ stress. As future work, it is
suggested that be estimated with fields experiments so that
an appropriate is obtained from the relation established in
the present study.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work is financially supported by a grant by the Natural
Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada
(NSERC) in partnership with Vale Ltd Sudbury Operations,
Canada, under the Collaborative Research and Development
Program. The authors are grateful for their support.
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