Blast Induced Ground Vibration

Blast Induced Ground Vibration

❑ Generation
❑ Seismic waves
❑ Wave parameters
❑ Vibration parameters
❑ Factors affecting ground vibration
❑ Measurement of ground Vibration
 Seismograph
 Placing of transducer
 Output of the seismograph
❑ Vibration prediction
❑ Controlling ground vibration
❑ DGMS standards
Generation of blast induced ground
vibrations
 Explosive Energy
1. Work Energy ( 15-25 %)
 Shock energy
 Heave Energy
2. Waste Energy ( 75-85 %)
 Ground vibration
 Fly rock
 Sound
 Light
 Back break
Rupture Radius Zones
Seismic Waves :
 Body wave: Body waves travel
into and through the rock mass,
penetrating down into its
interior.
1. P wave (Longitudinal waves)
2. S wave ( Transverse wave)

 Surface wave:Surface waves

travel along the surface of the
ground
1. Rayleigh waves
2. Love waves
3. Stoneley waves
P wave ( Longitudinal waves)
 The longitudinal wave is also called the compression wave or
primary wave (P-wave).
 It excites the particle of the rock in back and forth motion in
same direction as the propagation of the wave.
 Solid, liquid and gas transmit longitudinal wave.
 It is the fastest wave to be propagated through the ground.
 The velocity of P-wave depends upon the Young’s modulus,
Poisson’s ratio and density of rock.
S wave (Transverse waves)
 The transverse wave is also called the shear wave or
secondary wave (S-wave).
 It excites the particle of the rock at right angle to the wave
propagation.
 S-wave can travel only through the solids.
 The velocity of S-wave also depends upon the elastic
constants and density of the rock.
 It is slower than the P-wave
Rayleigh waves
 The particle motion is elliptical and in a vertical plane with
respect to the direction of propagation.
 Rayleigh waves travel only in the free surface.
 The amplitude of the Rayleigh wave decreases rapidly
with depth below the surface.
 The Rayleigh waves travel slowly than P-wave and S-wave.
Love waves
 Love waves cause transverse vibration in horizontal plane
with no vertical displacement.
 The particle motion is horizontal.
Stoneley Waves
 It is high amplitude surface wave with maximum
amplitude at interface. The amplitude then decreases
exponentially away from the interface.
 The particle motion is perpendicular to the interface.
Wave Parameters
 Cycle:
One complete oscillation repeated
events is called one cycle.
 Period:
The time required to complete
one cycle or oscillation.
 Frequency:
Number of cycles per unit time.
 Amplitude:
The maximum displacement of a
particle on either side of its
equilibrium position.
Vibration Parameters:
 Displacement:
When the ground vibrates because of the passage of a
seismic wave, the rock particle move or displaced from an
equilibrium position. The distance that a rock particle move
from its equilibrium position is called displacement.
 Velocity:
The speed at which the rock particle moves when it leaves its
rest position.
 Acceleration:
The rate at which the particle velocity changes.
The particle velocity is considered the best descriptor of
damage and most of the blast ground vibration standards
are based on particle velocity.
Factors Affecting Ground Vibrations
Influence on ground motion
Variable
Moderately
Significant Insignificant
significant

Controllable Parameters

1. Charge per delay 

2. Delay interval 
3. Detonator accuracy 
4. Burden and spacing 
5. Stemming length 
6. Stemming material 
7. Charge length and diameter 
8. Angle of blast hole 
9. Direction of initiation 
10. Charge depth 
11. Bare and covered DF 
12. Charge weight per blast 

Non-controllable Parameters
1. Surface terrain 
2. Type and distance 
3. Wind and weather condition 
Measurement of ground vibration

The instrument used to measure blast induced

ground vibration is called Seismograph.
 A standard seismograph consists
◦ A transducer (for sensing ground vibration)
◦ A microphone( for sensing air over pressure)
◦ A base unit ( for storing, processing and displaying the events
recorded)
Transducer :
 A standard transducer essentially
consists three geophone placed at
right angle to each other.
 Two units lie in the horizontal
plane at right angle to each other
while the third unit is oriented in
the vertical plane.
 The geophone is basically a
electromagnetic transducer which
converts the ground motion into
electric voltage.
 The induced coil voltage is
proportional to the speed of the
ground motion.
 The sensor transmit the induced
coil voltage to the base unit,
where it is converted back into
motion.
Microphone:
 The microphone senses the air pressure
and converts into electrical signals.

 The electrical signal are transmitted to

the microprocessor where these are
again converted back to pressure.

 Generally a linear measurement (L scale)

is used to measure the effect of low
frequency air pressure on the structure.

 Microphone of A weight is used to

measure noise levels by which people
may get annoyed
Base unit:
 A battery for supply power
 A system for converting the
electrical signals back into
ground motion/ air pressure.
 A micro-processor for
processing the data.
 A displaying unit for displaying
the results
 Memory for storing the
events
 Modern seismograph are fully
compatible to PC, the events
stored can be transferred to
PC for further analysis.
Placing of Transducer
 The geophone should be placed on or in the ground on
the side of the structure towards the blast.
 The data recorded should adequately represent the
vibration levels received at the structure being protected.
The geophone should be placed within 3 m of the
structure or less than 10% of the distance from the blast,
whichever is less.
 Placing of geophone on unconsolidated soil, sand, fill
materials, flower- bed mulch should be avoided. The
density of soil should be greater than the density of the
geophone.
 The geophone should be installed nearly level.
 The longitudinal channel of the geophone (generally
marked with an arrow on the geophone) should be
pointed towards the blast.
 Coupling of the geophone with ground is extremely
important. If the acceleration exceeds 0.2 g, slippage of
the geophone may take place.
 To avoid slippage of geophone with ground, depending on
the anticipated acceleration levels spiking, burial or
sandbagging of the geophone to the ground should be
done.
 If the expected acceleration is less than 0.2 g no burial or
attachment is necessary, if it is between o.2 and 1.0 g
burial/ attachment or spiking should be done, if it is
greater than 1.0 g burial or firm attachment is required.
 For burying the geophone, a hole of height not less than
three times the height of the geophone should be
excavated. The geophone should be spiked to the bottom
of the hole and soil should be firmly compacted around
and over the geophone.
 The geophone can be attached to the bedrock by
bolting, clamping or gluing the sensor to the rock
surface.
 For spiking the geophones, the sod should be removed
with minimum disturbance to the soil the geophone
should be pressed firmly to the ground with spikes
attached to it.
 For sand bagging also, the sod should be removed and
sand bag should be placed over the bare spot with
sand bag over it. Sand bag should be large and loosely
filled with about 5 kg of sand. When placed over the
sensor the sand bag profile should be as low and wide
as possible.
Output of the Seismograph

Peak particle velocity:

Peak particle velocity is the
maximum speed a particle travel
resulting from an event’s ground
vibrations.

Zero Crossing Frequency ( ZC

frequency)
The Zero crossing frequency is the
event waveform’s frequency at
the largest peak
 Peak acceleration:
Peak acceleration is the peak value of acceleration along
the entire wave form:Peak acceleration is not necessary
at the peak velocity for an individual wave form.
Peak displacement:
The peak displacement is the maximum value of
displacement of a particle along the entire wave form.
Peak acceleration is not necessary at the peak velocity
for an individual wave form.
Peak Vector Sum:
The vector sum represent the resultant particle velocity
magnitude. Its peak value is called PVS.

PVS = √ (T2 + V2+L2)

Prediction of ground vibration
 Prediction of ground vibration is usually done
statistically using regression analysis from the
independent variable of charge/delay and distance of the
measuring station from the blast site.
 Trial blasts are conducted, and vibration is measured at
different distances with different max. Charge/delay.
 To develop a good analysis, 30-35 data sets are
needed to be analysed.
 Charge/delay, distance of the measuring station from
the blast site and vibration measured are recorded.
 Square root prediction analysis

PPV = α ( D/√ Q) –β
 or
ppv = α ( SD) –β
Where, ppv= peak particle velocity, mm/s
D = distance of the measuring station from the blast site, m
Q = charge/delay, kg/delay
α, β= site constant
SD = scaling factor that relates similar blast effects from
various charge weight of same explosive at various
distance. D/√ Q
• ppv tend to decreases with increase in scaled distance.
• By plotting data ppv - SD on log-log scale, a linear relationship is
obtained.
• From the plot, the equation fit curve can be developed in the
form.
ppv = α ( SD) –β
α = y intercept and β = slope of the curve
The values of α and β at 95 % confidence level is used to predict
the ground vibration.
 Example:
Calculate the max. safe charge per delay for a blast to be
carried out at a distance of 200 m from a structure which can
withstand a ppv of 10 mm/s. The value of α = 900 and β = 1.2

Given :
ppv = 10 mm/s, distance of the structure = 200 m,
α = 900, β = 1.
Square root predictor equation for the site

10 = 900 ( 200/√ Q) –1.2 ,

Q = 5.81 kg /delay
 DGMS Standards
Dominant excitation frequency, Hz
Type of structures
<8 Hz 8-25 Hz > 25 Hz
(A) Buildings /structures not belonging to the owner

1. Domestic houses / structures 5 10 15

(Kuchcha, brick & cement)
2. Industrial buildings 10 20 25

3. Objects of historical importance 2 5 10

and sensitive structures
(B) Buildings belonging to owner with limited span of life

1. Domestic houses / structures 10 15 25

2. Industrial buildings 15 25 50
Controlling Ground Vibration
 Methods and techniques to reduce ground vibrations:
 Reducing charge per delay:
 Reducing blast hole diameter
 Reducing bench height
 By using decking
 Using controlled blasting techniques:
 Line drilling
 Pre-splitting
 Smooth blasting
 Reducing explosive confinement:
 Reducing spacing and burden
 Removing buffer in front of the face
 Reducing sub grade drilling
 Reducing stemming
 Using a blast design which produces max relief. ( using
larger delays)
 Allowing maximum no of free faces.
 Limit the explosive confinement to bed rock.
 Wherever possible, the progression of detonating holes
should progress away from the structure.