Non-Linear Behavior of Blasting Noticed on Seismic Signals

In mining operations, it is necessary to remove the overburden in order to uncover the mineral deposits. When the overburden consists of highly consolidated materials, blasting should be performed to fragment the rocks. Blasting introduces extensive impulsive energy into the surrounding earth. It is expected that most of the explosive energy is used for rock fragmentation. However, part of this energy is transmitted away from the blasting point as ground vibrations. Mitigation of ground vibrations has been discussed by many researchers and their waveform models of blast vibration typically consider a linear superposition of characteristic waveforms. However, blasting produces large strains in the surrounding medium, which implies a non-linear response of the material. It is therefore questionable to use a linear superposition scheme in analyzing waveform. This study aims to investigate the non-linear behavior of blasting phenomena. Therefore, studies for mitigation of ground vibration can be performed more realistic way.