• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.10-21
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• 2021

Brittle materials such as rocks and concretes exhibit large strain-rate dependency under dynamic loading conditions. This means that the mechanical properties of such materials can significantly be varied according to load velocity. Thus, the strain-rate dependency is recognized as one of the most important considerations in solving problems of blast engineering or rock dynamics. Unfortunately, however, studies for characterizing the dynamic properties of domestic rocks and other brittle materials are still insufficient in the country. In this study, dynamic tensile tests were conducted using the Hopkinson pressure bar apparatus to characterize the dynamic properties of Geochang granite and high-strength concrete specimens. The dynamic Brazilian disc test, which is suggested by ISRM, and the spalling method were applied. In general, the latter is believed to have some advantages in experiments under high-strain rate deformation. It was found from the tests that there were no significant difference between the dynamic tensile strengths obtained from the two different test methods for the two materials given. However, this was not the expected result before the tests. Actually, authors expected that there be some differences between them. Hence, it is thought that further investigations are needed to clarify this results.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.22-33
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• 2021

Recently, the frequent occurrence of ground subsidence in urban areas has caused increasing anxiety in residents and incurred significant social costs. Among the causes of ground subsidence, the rupture of old water and sewer pipes not only halts the operation of the buried pipes, but also leads to ground and water pollution problems. However, because most pipes are buried after construction and cannot be seen with the naked eye, the importance of maintenance has underestimated compared to other structures. In recent years, integrated physical exploration has been applied to the maintenance of underground pipes and structures. Currently, to investigate the internal conditions and vulnerable portions of the ground, consolidated physical surveys are executed. Consolidated physical surveys are analysis techniques that obtain various material data and add existing data using multiple physical surveys. Generally, in geotechnical engineering, consolidated physical surveys including electrical and surface wave surveys are adopted. However, it is difficult to investigate time-based changes in under ground using these surveys. In contrast, surveys using cosmic-ray muons have been used to scan the inner parts of nuclear reactors with penetration technology. Surveys using muons enable real-time observation without the influence of vibration or electricity. Such surveys have great potential for available technology because of their ability to investigate density distributions without requiring as much labor. In this paper, survey technologies using cosmic ray muons are introduced, and the possibilities of applying such technologies as new physical survey technologies for underground structures are suggested.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.520-533
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• 2021

It is necessary to increase the blasting efficiency in order to minimize the economic loss caused when the excavation cross section is reduced due to the stability problem of underground mining development, and for this, a new blasting design is proposed. In this study, the blasting efficiency of the general design in the field, the suggestion designI, which added two columns to production blasting, and the suggestion design II, which added one column to create asymmetry, is compared. Advance rate and fragmentation were selected as the evaluation index of the blasting efficiency. In the case of advance rate, compared to the normal, the suggestionI improved by 6.07% and the suggestionII improved by 4.65%. In the case of fragmentation, based on P80, compared to the normal, the suggestionI reduced about 58% and the suggestionII was about 47%. Accoording to the evaluation index, the suggestion designI shows better blasting efficiency than the suggestion designII. But considering the additional work time and cost required for the suggestion designI due to the insignificant difference in the evaluation index results, the asymmetry V-cut, the suggestion designII, is judged to be a more suitable blasting design for the site.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.19-32
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• 2022

Hydrogen is a fuel having the highest energy compared with other common fuels. This means hydrogen is a clean energy source for the future. However, using hydrogen as a fuel has implication regarding carrier and storage issues, as hydrogen is highly inflammable and unstable gas susceptible to explosion. Explosions resulting from hydrogen-air mixtures have already been encountered and well documented in research experiments. However, there are still large gaps in this research field as the use of numerical tools and field experiments are required to fully understand the safety measures necessary to prevent hydrogen explosions. The purpose of this present study is to develop and simulate 3D numerical modelling of an existing hydrogen gas station in Jeonju by using handheld LiDAR and Ansys AUTODYN, as well as the processing of point cloud scans and use of cloud dataset to develop FEM 3D meshed model for the numerical simulation to predict peak-over pressures. The results show that the Lidar scanning technique combined with the ANSYS AUTODYN can help to determine the safety distance and as well as construct, simulate and predict the peak over-pressures for hydrogen refueling station explosions.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.44-53
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• 2022

This study evaluates the applicability of the TNT Equivalency Method, Multi-Energy Method, and Baker-Strehlow-Tang (BST) Method, which are blast prediction models used to determine the overpressure of blast wave generated from vapor cloud explosion. It is assumed that the propane leaked from a propane storage container with a capacity of 2000 kg installed in an area where studio houses and shopping centers are concentrated causes a vapor cloud explosion. The equivalent mass of TNT calculated by applying the TNT Equivalency Method is found to be 4061 kg. Change of overpressure with the distance obtained by the TNT Equivalency Method, Multi-Energy Method, and BST Method is rapid and the magnitude of overpressure obtained by the TNT Equivalency Method and BST method is generally similar within 100 m from explosion center. As a result of comparing the overpressure observed in the actual vapor cloud explosion case with the overpressure obtained by applying the TNT Equivalent Method, Multi-Energy Method, and BST Method, the BST Method is found to be the best fit. As a result of comparing the overpressure with the distance obtained by each explosion prediction model with the damage criteria for structure, it is estimated that the structure located within 90 m from explosion center would suffer a damage more than partial destruction, and glass panes of the structure separated by 600 m would be fractured.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.15-26
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• 2022

With the recent increase in old and dangerous buildings, the demand for technology in the field of structure demolition is rapidly increasing. In particular, in the case of structures with severe deformation of damage, there is a risk of deterioration in stability and disaster due to changes in the load distribution characteristics in the structure, so rapid structure demolition technology that can be efficiently dismantled in a short period of time is drawing attention. However, structural deformation such as unauthorized extension or illegal remodeling occurs frequently in many old structures, which is not reflected in structural information such as building drawings, and acts as an obstacle in the demolition design process. In this study, as an effective way to overcome the discrepancy between the structural information of old structures and the actual structure, access to actual structures through 3D modeling was considered. 3D point cloud data inside and outside the building were obtained through LiDAR and drone photography for buildings scheduled to be blasting demolition, and precision matching between the two spatial data groups was performed using an open-source based spatial information construction system. The 3D structure model was completed by importing point cloud data matched with 3D modeling software to create structural drawings for each layer and forming each member along the structure slab, pillar, beam, and ceiling boundary. In addition, the modeling technique proposed in this study was verified by comparing it with the actual measurement value for selected structure member.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2023

Stemming is a process applied to blast holes to prevent gases from escaping during detonation. A stemming material helps confine the explosive energy for longer and increases rock fragmentation. This study developed a stemming material based on a shear-thickening fluid (STF) that reacts to dynamic shock. Two blasting experiments were conducted to Field-verify the performance of the STF-based stemming material. In the first experiment, the pressure inside the blast hole was directly measured based on applying the stemming material. In the second field verification, tunnel blasting was performed, and the blasting results of sand stemming and, that of the STF-based stemming case were compared. The measurement results of the pressure in the blast hole showed that when the STF-based stemming material was applied, the pressure at the top of the blast hole was lower than in the sand stemming case, and the stemming ejection was also lower. The results of the field application verify that the excavation performance of the STF-based stemming case in the tunnel blasting was superior to that of the sand stemming case.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.9-16
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• 2023

To compare the global warming impact of the TBM and NATM method, which are representative tunnel excavation methods, a life cycle assessment was performed for each method. Life cycle assessment should compare the sum of carbon emissions by considering the pre-manufacturing stage, product manufacturing stage, usage stage, and disposal stage. However, access to TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) manufacturing and disposal data is limited, so I had no choice but to focus on the analysis for the usage stage. In general, carbon emissions during the pre-product manufacturing stage and product manufacturing stage often exceed 90% of carbon emissions throughout the entire process. Therefore, since it is difficult to achieve the analysis goal only by comparing the usage stage, the analysis scope was expanded, and carbon emissions for the process were calculated for the NATM method with access to manufacturing data. As a result of comparing the relative impact on global warming, the carbon emissions of the TBM method were found to be higher than those of the NATM method even though TBM method was only considered for the usage stage. So there it is, the NATM method can be seen as environmentally friendly in the future when considering the impact of climate change (global warming), which has recently attracted attention among environmental impact fields.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.1-8
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• 2023

On August 4, 2020, 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a storage warehouse at the Port of Beirut exploded. This explosion is said to be the largest ammonium nitrate explosion ever. By applying the TNT equivalency method, TNT equivalent amount corresponding to the explosion energy of 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate was calculated, and it is found to be 856 tons. Overpressure and impulse were calculated in a range up to 3600 m from the blast using the Kingery-Bulmash explosion parameter calculator tool. As the distance from the explosion center increases, the overpressure and impulse decrease exponentially, but the overpressure decreases more significantly, showing that overpressure is more affected by distance than the impact. As a result of applying the damage criteria to evaluate the effects of overpressure and impulse on the structure, the critical distances at which partial collapse, major damage, and minor damage to the structure occur are found to be approximately 500, 800, and 2200 m from the center of the explosion, respectively. The probit function was applied to evaluate the probability of damage to structures and human body. The points where the probability of collapse, major damage, minor damage, and breakage of window-panes to structures are greater than 50% are found to be approximately 500, 810, 2200, and 3200 m, respectively. For people within 200 m from the center of the explosion, the probability of death due to lung damage is more than 99%, and the 50% probability of eardrum rupture is approximately 300 m. The points with a 100% probability of death due to skull rupture and whole body impact due to whole body displacement are evaluated to be 300 and 100 m, respectively.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.13-25
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• 2023

The conventional bench blasting method uses the bottom initiation in all blast holes in a round, whereas the MDS (mixture detonation system) method applies the bottom and top initiations alternately according to the spatial position or temporal sequence of each blast hole. The former and latter are respectively called the SMDS (spatial MDS) and TMDS (temporal MDS) methods. Another variant called MMDS (modified MDS) is designed for the specific use in the site having a fly-rock problem. This study compares the MDS method to the conventional method in the aspect of rock fracturing effect. The comparison is made by numerical simulations for a two-row bench blasting model in the LS-DYNA. The SPH-FEM coupling method is utilized for constructing the blasting model. The SPH elements are used for the rock in the near-field region of the blast holes, and the FEM elements for that in the far-field region. The RHT material model is used for the rock. As a result of the simulations, it was found that up to 0.4 m deeper damaged zone was appeared in the SMDS method than in the conventional method for the case of the burden 1.6 m and bench height 3.0 m. In addition, the fly-rock velocity to the normal direction of the bench slope was appeared about 2.0 m/s lower in the MMDS method compared to the other methods.