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com/science/article/pii/S0886779818302451
Manuscript_0859c2563bfc780ee6de54e6fa1ea60b

Study of decoupled charge blasting based on high-speed digital image

correlation method
Renshu Yang 1, 2, Chenxi Ding 1, * , Liyun Yang 1, Zhen Lei 3, Changda Zheng 1
1
School of Mechanics and Civil Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
2
State Key Laboratory for Geomechanics and Deep Underground Engineering (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
3
Institute of Mining Engineering, Guizhou Institute of Technology, Guizhou 550003, China

Abstract: Incorporating high-speed camera technology, an experimental system of high-speed digital image
correlation is established and extended to blasting research. Based on the model experiment, the effects of the
filling medium and the decoupling coefficient on stress evolution in decoupled charge blasting are studied.
Different filling media are found to have a significant effect on the transmission of blasting energy. Compared
with coupled charge blasting, decoupled charge blasting with air as the filling medium reduces the blasting stress
peak in the specimens; while within a certain decoupling coefficient range, the decoupled charge blasting with
plasticine as the filling medium increases the blasting stress peak in specimens. The blasting stress attenuation
index in specimens exhibits the trend of an initial increase and then a decrease with increasing decoupling
coefficient, where the decoupling coefficient corresponding to the maximum stress attenuation index is
determined by the filling medium. In addition, the numerical simulation results show that, in decoupled charge
blasting, the filling medium greatly reduces the pressure at the borehole wall. With increasing decoupling
coefficient, the pressure at the borehole wall attenuates with a mild degree of attenuation.

Keywords: digital image correlation; blasting; decoupled charge; decoupling coefficient; filling medium; stress
attenuation index

1 Introduction

Drilling and blasting, as a traditional and effective construction method, is widely used in tunneling [1, 2]
and mining [3-5] engineering. The method mainly utilizes the instantaneous release of explosive energy to realize
efficient crushing of the rock mass. Blasting quality is of great importance for improving productivity and
reducing costs. In engineering practice, compared with coupled charge blasting, decoupled charge blasting avoids
excessive crushing of rock around the borehole, controls rock blasting fragmentation, and achieves rational
utilization of blasting energy [6]. In decoupled charge blasting, the decoupling coefficient [7-11] and the filling
medium [12-16] are the two main factors affecting blasting efficiency. To produce a better blasting effect, many
researchers and field engineers have focused on these two factors.
Lei et al. [7] have conducted a contrast test using three charge blasting groups with various shapes and
different decoupling coefficients, where the results showed that for a radial decoupling coefficient of 1.5, a stress
wave with low dominant frequency produced the strongest stimulation effect; while the combined action of the
blasting gas and stress wave on the coal mass effectively increased the volume fraction of the gas in the extraction
boreholes by 2.0–3.4 times. Gu et al. [8] have summarized that a water-decoupled structure effectively reduced the
instantaneous energy of the blasting vibration to produce a more average rock fragmentation and less harmful dust.
In addition, Gu et al. believed that a reasonable decoupling coefficient should exist to help realize impedance
matching of the explosive and rock. Through laboratory model experiments and numerical simulations, Wang [9]

* Corresponding author: School of Mechanics and Civil Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing
100083, China.
E-mail addresses: dingcx91@sina.com (C. Ding).
1
© 2018 published by Elsevier. This manuscript is made available under the Elsevier user license
https://www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/
showed that the decoupling coefficient has a significant effect on the blast-induced cracking. For example, a
decoupling coefficient of 1.67 exhibited an optimal fracture effect of the slotted cartridge; while the propagation
velocity and the dynamic stress intensity factor of the detonation primary crack exhibited a downward and
oscillating trend.
Using air or water as the filling medium, Wang et al. [11] have solved the equation of reflected waves in the
detonation product and the equation of shock waves in the test medium. In addition, they obtained the initial
parameters of shock waves in the medium around the charge. Wang [12] posited that a decoupled charge can
greatly reduce the crater size and ground oscillation. In particular, the water-decoupled blast exhibits an advantage
over the air-decoupled blast in that it is more beneficial for the formation of a uniform rock fragmentation. In
addition, Jiang et al. [13] have used explicit dynamic finite element simulations to analyze the stress attenuation
law of decoupled charge blasting with air, water, or sand as the filling medium.
The current research has primarily used research methods that focus on the effects of the decoupling
coefficient and the filling medium in decoupled charge blasting, in situ tests of rock blasting, and blasting model
experiments on concrete and other rock-like materials. While the data collection of these methods is limited, the
test results tend to have large discrepancies and even be inconsistent with objective understanding owing to the
anisotropism of rock and rock-like materials. These large differences make it difficult to provide reliable data
references for theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. Therefore, understanding of the decoupled charge
blasting mechanism requires more elaborate experimental support. In addition, the stress characteristic at the
borehole wall in decoupled charge blasting and the stress attenuation rule still lacks adequate study.
In view of this, this paper adopts an experimental system of high-speed digital image correlation (DIC) to
carry out model experiments that focus on the effects of the decoupling coefficient and the filling medium on the
stress evolution in decoupled charge blasting. In addition, owing to the extremely high temperatures and pressures
present in the borehole during blasting, there is still a lack of effective and accurate measurement techniques to
determine the stress at the borehole wall. Herein, therefore, using the LS-DYNA finite element code, the effects of
the decoupling coefficient and the filling medium on the initial pressure at the borehole wall in decoupled charge
blasting are also studied.

2 Blasting model experiment

2.1 Experimental system

The basic principle of the DIC method [17, 18] comprises calculating the gray matrix of a digital speckle
image of a specimen before and after surface deformation, whereupon the spatial position of the calculated point
before and after deformation can be tracked to obtain the displacement and strain information of the specimen
surface. After several decades of development, the algorithmic precision of DIC has been greatly improved, and
the technique has been widely used in static and quasi-static experimental mechanics [19-21]. With the
development of high-speed photographic technology, DIC has gradually been applied to dynamic experimental
mechanics [22-25] such as the drop-hammer and Split-Hopkinson pressure bar. With the development of
computing methods and software, the accuracy and reliability of DIC have been greatly improved [26-28].
Combined with high-speed camera technology, an experimental system of high-speed DIC was established in this
study (Fig. 1) and the DIC method was extended to blasting research.

2
 Fig. 1 Experimental system for high-speed digital image correlation.
The main components of this experimental system comprised a high-speed camera, a lighting system, and a
synchronous control system.
The high-speed camera (Kirana-5M, Specialised Imaging Inc., UK) can achieve a shooting speed of 5×106
fps, which means the minimum interval between two successive photos is as short as 200 ns. The µCMOS sensor
used in the camera enables high-speed acquisition without degrading image resolution. The single shot image
resolution is 924 ×768 pixels and the acquisition number is 180.
The lighting system (SI-AD500, Specialised Imaging Inc., UK) consists of a controller and two flash devices.
The controller was a four-channel CU-500 controller that can control simultaneous and sequential multichannel
operation. The flash devices are FH-500 xenon lamps, which can achieve 2 ms lighting with a constant light
intensity. This system effectively satisfies the high-speed camera shooting-on-exposure requirements.
The synchronous control system is designed and developed in-house, and allows a starting sequence and a
delay time of the detonation, lighting and shooting, to achieve microsecond-level control.
For blasting research, a start trigger mode is used in the experimental system. When the trigger signal is
manually given, the lighting system is initiated. After 50-100 µs, the intensity of the light field reaches a steady
value and the high-speed camera begins to acquire images. At the same time, the explosive in the borehole is
detonated by the metal probe which is controlled by the synchronous control system. This experimental workflow
ensures that information regarding the entire blasting process is effectively recorded by the high-speed camera
under stable exposure conditions.

2.2 Experimental design

For rock and rock-like materials, numerous random cracks are generated around the borehole under blast
loading, even for a relatively small explosive dosage. The main purpose of the experiment herein was to study the
entire process of strain characteristics and stress evolution in decoupled charge blasting, and thus it was necessary
to avoid generating blast-induced cracks in the test specimens as much as possible. For this reason, polycarbonate
(PC), which is a kind of isotropic material with good toughness, was chosen as the specimen material instead of
rock or rock-like materials. Lead azide (Pb(N3)2), with a low detonation pressure, was used as the charge
explosive, where a single-hole charge of only 80 mg was used and the charge was detonated by the high-voltage
discharge of metal probes. The relevant parameters of PC and Pb(N3)2 are given in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.
Table 1 Relevant material parameters of PC
Dynamic elastic Dynamic shear Dynamic Poisson P-wave velocity S-wave velocity Density
-1 -1
modulus /GPa modulus /GPa ratio /m· s /m· s /kg· m-3
4.548 1.722 0.321 2125 1090 1449

3
 Table 2 Relevant detonation parameters of Pb(N3)2
Charge density Critical capacity Explosion heat Explosive velocity Explosive pressure
-3 -1 -1
/g· cm /L·kg /℃ /m· s /GPa
2.51 308 3050 4478 9.31

As shown in Fig. 2, the size of the PC specimen was 300×300×5 mm and the borehole was precut in the
center of the square face. A self-designed holder was used to fix the test specimen in place, and the borehole was
stemmed to prevent premature spillage of the blasting gas. A black speckle was printed on the specimen surface
by ultraviolet plate-printing technology, where the speckle had a diameter of 1.2 mm, a density of 75%, an
irregularity of 75%. The effects of the decoupling coefficient were studied with seven charge structures with
different decoupling coefficients. As shown in Fig. 3, the charge diameter was ΦE=2rE=4 mm and the borehole
diameter varied as ΦB=4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 mm, whose corresponding decoupling coefficients were α=1, 1.5,
2, 2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4 (where α=1 denotes a coupled charge). In addition, the effects of the filling medium were
studied with air or plasticine as the filling medium. In the experiments, the decoupling coefficients of the test
specimens filled with air (αA) or plasticine (αP) were recorded to be 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4.

Borehole ΦB =4,6,8,···,16mm

ΦE =4mm
Explosive

Fig. 2 Specimen and speckle Fig. 3 Diagram of the charge structure

3 Experimental analysis
3.1 Full-field strain
The size of the subset used in the experiment was 29×29 pixels, and the calculation step was 7 pixels. The
explosive initiation time was recorded as t=0. In Fig. 4, the von Mises strain evolution process in a specimen with
αA=2 (air filling, decoupling coefficient at 2) under blast loading exhibits a group of concentric circles spreading
in the specimen plane. Because of the specimen size limitations, the blasting stress wave propagates up to the
boundary of the specimen at t=~100 µs, whereupon reflection occurs. This study mainly focused on the blasting
strain characteristic and stress evolution in specimens without wave reflection during the range t=0–100 µs.
Considering the borehole center as the pole and the right horizontal direction as the positive x-axis, the polar
coordinate system was established with the polar radius ρ and the polar angle θ (Fig. 4(a)). The strain induced by
the blast loading in the specimen plane spread outward from the central borehole, where the change in strain was
only related to the distance from the measurement point to the borehole center (i.e., related to ρ but not to θ). The
strain evolution of any point in the viewing field of the specimen could be effectively extracted, and certain
gauging points were selected for data analysis.

4
 (a) (b) (c)

(d) (e) (f)

Fig. 4 Full-field von Mises strain evolution process at times t=30, 50 and 60 µs (upper images, left to right) and t=80, 100 and 130 µs
(lower images, left to right)
Because the accuracy of the DIC strain measurement depends on the image resolution and the speckle quality,
the speckle quality must be calibrated before the experiment. In a static condition without blast loading, Fig. 5
demonstrates that the measurement errors of the basic strain components ερ and εθ do not exceed ±20 µε, which
indicates that the experimental system is stable and able to provide sufficient accuracy for blast-induced strain
measurements.
10 Radial strain ερ
Circumferential strainεθ
5

0
Strain ε /µε

-5

-10

-15

-20
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Time t /µs

Fig. 5 Strain error as a function of time

Under the strong impact of blast loading, the area close to the borehole is damaged or undergoes significant
plastic deformation, while the stress in the specimen attenuates exponentially with distance from the borehole. In
the experimental conditions herein, when the distance from the gauging point to the borehole center was ρ≥40 mm,
the stress state of the gauging point was within the elastic limit. Therefore, the stress–strain relationship of the
gauging point can be given as

(ε ρ + υεθ )
Ed
σρ =
1−υ 2 (1)
σ θ = d 2 ( εθ + υε ρ )
E
1−υ
where σρ and σθ are the radial and circumferential stress, respectively; ερ and εθ are the radial and circumferential
strain, respectively; Ed is the dynamic elastic modulus; and υ is the dynamic Poisson's ratio.

3.2 Filling medium

Figures 6, 7 and 8 respectively plot the radial and circumferential stresses in the coupled charge (α=1), the
5
air-decoupled charge (αA=2) and the plasticine-decoupled charge (αP=2) blasting as a function of time. In the
figures, the value of the stress is positive for tensile and negative for compressive. With increased gauging point
distance ρ, both the radial and circumferential stresses gradually attenuate. Under blast loading, the radial and
circumferential stresses of the medium are both initially compressive and subsequently tensile, though the radial
stress is dominated by compressive stress and the circumferential stress is dominated by tensile stress. Such stress
characteristics of the measuring point are consistent with descriptions and analysis given previously in the
literature [29].
10 10 ρ =40mm ρ =80mm
(a) (b) ρ =50mm ρ =90mm
5
8
ρ =60mm ρ =100mm
ρ =70mm ρ =110mm

Circumferential stress σθ / MPa

6
Radial stress σρ / MPa

ρ =40mm 4
-5 ρ =50mm
ρ =60mm 2

-10
ρ =70mm
ρ =80mm 0
ρ =90mm
-15
ρ =100mm -2
ρ =110mm
-20 -4
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Time t / µs Time t / µs

Fig.6 Stress in coupled charge (α=1) blasting as a function of time for (a) radial and (b) circumferential stress

7
3
ρ =40mm ρ =80mm
(a) 6
(b) ρ =50mm ρ =90mm
0
ρ =60mm ρ =100mm
Circumferential stress σθ / MPa

5
ρ =70mm ρ =110mm
Radial stress σρ / MPa

-3 4

ρ =40mm 3
-6
ρ =50mm 2
-9
ρ =60mm
ρ =70mm 1

-12
ρ =80mm 0
ρ =90mm
-1
-15
ρ =100mm
ρ =110mm -2

-18 -3
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Time t / µs Time t / µs

Fig.7 Stress in air-decoupled charge (αA=2) blasting as a function of time for (a) radial and (b) circumferential stress

15 18
ρ =40mm ρ =80mm
(a) (b) ρ =90mm
10
15 ρ =50mm
ρ =60mm ρ =100mm
Circumferential stress σθ / MPa

5
12 ρ =70mm ρ =110mm
Radial stress σρ / MPa

0
9
-5 ρ =40mm
-10 ρ =50mm 6
ρ =60mm
-15
ρ =70mm 3
-20 ρ =80mm
0
-25 ρ =90mm
ρ =100mm -3
-30
ρ =110mm
-35 -6
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Time t / µs Time t / µs

Fig.8 Stress in plasticine-decoupled charge (αP=2) blasting as a function of time for (a) radial and (b) circumferential stress
Using these time curves for the different blasting conditions, the radial and circumferential stress peaks of the
gauging points are listed in Table 3, and the evolution of the stress peaks are obtained, as shown in Fig. 9. As the
distance away from the borehole center increases, the radial and circumferential stress peaks of gauging points
6
gradually attenuate. At the same gauging point location, the stress peak in the plasticine-decoupled charge (αP=2)
blasting is the largest, that in the coupled charge (α=1) blasting is the second-largest, that in the air-decoupled
charge (αA=2) blasting is the smallest.
Table 3 Stress peaks of gauging points for different blasting conditions

40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Charge structure
σρ -17.9 -16.0 -14.9 -13.8 -13.1 -12.4 -11.8 -11.3
α=1
σθ 8.6 6.6 5.5 4.7 4.1 3.7 3.2 2.8
σρ -15.6 -12.7 -10.8 -9.3 -8.3 -7.5 -6.8 -6.5
αA=2
σθ 7.0 5.2 4.2 3.5 3.0 2.6 2.3 2.1
σρ -31.0 -27.1 -24.0 -21.7 -19.9 -18.4 -17.1 -16.1
αP=2
σθ 17.6 13.5 10.8 9.2 8.0 7.1 6.3 5.7

-35 18
(a) α=1 (b) α=1
-30 αA = 2 αA = 2

Circumferential stress peak σθ / MPa

15
αP = 2 αP = 2
Radial stress peak σρ / MPa

-25 12

-20 9

-15 6

-10 3

-5 0
40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Distance to borehole center ρ / mm Distance to borehole center ρ / mm

Fig.9 Stress peaks as a function of distance from the borehole for the coupled (α=1), air-decoupled (αA=2) and
plasticine-decoupled (αP=2) blasting conditions plotting the (a) radial and (b) circumferential stress

3.2.1 Coupled charge (α=1) blasting

The blasting shock wave acts directly on the borehole wall because there is no cushioning effect from the
filling medium between the explosive and borehole wall. Compression deformation of the borehole wall is thus
significant, with a large part of the blasting energy used to cause compression damage in the borehole wall.
Engineering practice has proven that coupled charge blasting typically causes a large crushed area around the
borehole, resulting in the irrational or uncontrolled use of the blasting energy.

3.2.2 Air-decoupled charge (αA=2) blasting

The wave impedance of air is much less than that of the test specimen, but the blasting shock wave is
buffered somewhat when it propagates through the air. The air is greatly compressed and dissipated, resulting in a
large consumption of blasting energy during transmission. Compared with the coupled charge blasting, the
cushioning effect of air reduces the compressive damage of the blasting shock wave on the borehole wall. Further,
owing to the excessive dissipation of the blasting energy by the air filling, the stress peaks of the gauging points in
the specimens are reduced, with a 13–43% reduction for the radial stress peaks and a 19–30% reduction of the
circumferential stress peaks compared to the coupled charge blasting results.

3.2.3 Plasticine-decoupled charge (αP=2) blasting

The wave impedance of plasticine is close to that of the test specimen, and the viscoelasticity of plasticine
enables it to absorb and accumulate energy. On the one hand, compared with coupled charge blasting, plasticine as
a buffer medium prevents direct damage by the blasting shock wave to the borehole wall and reduces uncontrolled
dispersal of blasting energy. On the other hand, compared with an air-decoupled charge, plasticine as a good
7
energy transfer medium, reduces excessive dissipation of blasting energy transfer. As a result, plasticine as a
filling medium improves the blasting energy efficiency and increases the blasting stress peak of gauging points.
Compared with a coupled charge blasting, the radial stress peaks of gauging points are increased by 43–73%, and
the circumferential stress peaks of gauging points are increased by 92–105%.

3.3 Decoupling coefficient

Under blast loading, the attenuation law of stress in a specimen is governed by the equation [30, 31]

σ p = σ0 / r n (2)

where σp is the stress peak of the gauging point, σ0 is the initial stress at the borehole wall in coupled charge
blasting, r is the ratio of the distance ρ to charge radius rE (such that, r =d/rE), and n is the stress attenuation
index.
Using Eq. (2) and the stress peaks of the gauging points for different blasting conditions, the stress
attenuation curves are fitted and shown in Fig. 10 (air-decoupled) and Fig. 11 (plasticine-decoupled). In
air-decoupled charge blasting as shown in Fig. 10, as the decoupling coefficient increases, both the radial and
circumferential stress peaks at the same gauging point decrease. In the plasticine-decoupled charge blasting, it has
been analyzed in the above that when the decoupling coefficient is αP=2, both the radial and circumferential stress
peaks of the same gauging point increase compared to that in coupled charge blasting. As can be seen in Fig. 11,
as the decoupling coefficient increases, the radial and circumferential stress peaks of the same gauging point
initially increase and then decrease. When the decoupling coefficient is αP=3, both the radial and circumferential
stress peaks reach their maximum, after which the stress peaks gradually decrease as the decoupling coefficient
further increases. There is therefore a specific decoupling coefficient (2.5<αP<3.5) in the plasticine-decoupled
charge blasting that causes the stress peaks of the gauging points to reach a maximum.
-18 9
α =1 α =3
α =1.5 α =3.5 α =1
8
-16
α =2 α =4 α =1.5
Circumferential stress peak σθ / MPa

α =2.5 7
α =2
Radial stress peak σρ / MPa

-14 α =2.5
6 α =3
-12 α =3.5
5 α =4
-10
4
-8
3

-6
2
(a) (b)
-4 1
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
Distance ratio r Distance ratio r

Fig.10 Stress peaks and their fitting curves for air-decoupled charge blasting for the (a) radial and (b) circumferential stress

-40 22
α =1 α =1
α =1.5 20 α =1.5
α =2
Circumferential stress peak σθ / MPa

-35 α =2 18
α =2.5 α =2.5
Radial stress peak σρ / MPa

α =3 16 α =3
-30
α =3.5 α =3.5
14
α =4 α =4
-25 12

10
-20
8

6
-15
4
(a) (b)
-10 2
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
Distance ratio r Distance ratio r

Fig.11 Stress peaks and their fitting curves for plasticine-decoupled charge blasting for the (a) radial and (b) circumferential stress
8
 The stress attenuation index n in Eq. (2) characterizes attenuation rate of the blasting stress in specimens.
Using the fitted stress attenuation function, the stress attenuation index n for different blasting conditions is
calculated and listed in Table 4, and the curves of n as a function of decoupling coefficient α are shown in Fig. 12.
In coupled charge (α=1) blasting, the radial and circumferential stress attenuation indices are found respectively to
be 0.45 and 1.07. In the air-decoupled and plasticine-decoupled charge blasting, however, the circumferential
stress attenuation index is found to be significantly larger than the radial stress attenuation index, which signifies
that the degree of circumferential stress attenuation is greater. With increasing decoupling coefficient, the stress
attenuation index initially increases and then decreases, indicating that there is a certain decoupling coefficient
that maximizes the degree of stress attenuation. In air-decoupled charge blasting with a decoupling coefficient of
αA=2, both the radial and circumferential stress attenuation indices reach their maximum values of 0.89 and 1.24,
respectively. In plasticine-decoupled charge blasting with a decoupling coefficient of αP=3, both the radial and
circumferential stress attenuation indices reach their maximum values of 0.72 and 1.23, respectively. It can be
seen that the variation law of the stress attenuation index n with the decoupling coefficient α is also affected by the
filling medium.
Table 4 Radial and circumferential stress attenuation index in different blasting conditions

Coupled Air decoupled αA Plasticine decoupled αP

n
Stress type α=1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

Radial 0.45 0.84 0.89 0.81 0.79 0.71 0.66 0.58 0.65 0.71 0.72 0.64 0.57
Circumferential 1.07 1.19 1.24 1.15 1.07 1.03 0.97 1.10 1.13 1.21 1.23 1.17 1.09

0.9 1.25
(a) (b)
1.20
0.8
Stress attenuation index n
Stress attenuation index n

1.15
0.7

1.10

0.6
1.05

0.5
Air decoupled 1.00 Air decoupled
Plasticine decoupled Plasticine decoupled
0.4 0.95
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
Decoupling coefficient α Decoupling coefficient α

Fig.12 Stress attenuation index (n) as a function of the decoupling coefficient (α) for the (a) radial and (b) circumferential stress
Notably, Eq. (2) is established on the premise that there are no phase transitions in the stress propagation path
and no significant crushing occurs, which avoids any stress transmission jumps or interruptions. In the actual
blasting experiments of the PC specimens, however, the medium surrounding the borehole is severely crushed and
the blasting cavity expands such that the edge of the blasting cavity is in a state of melting under the high transient
blasting temperature. Therefore, in the experiment of this paper, the stress peak σ0 at the borehole wall obtained
from the stress attenuation function does not reflect the stress state of the borehole wall during actual blasting.

4 Numerical simulation

4.1 Numerical model

Owing to the limitation of existing test methods, the initial stress at the borehole wall is difficult to measure
accurately when the explosive is detonated. Therefore, the LS-DYNA finite element code was used to calculate
and analyze the initial stress at the borehole wall for different blasting conditions. A single-layer solid grid method
was used to establish a numerical model with a model size of 300×300 cm and a charge diameter of 4 cm. Similar
9
to the model experiment above, two model groups were created using air and clay (similar to plasticine) as the
filling media. The diameters of the borehole wall in each group were 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 mm and the
corresponding decoupling coefficients were 1 (i.e., coupled charge), 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4.
Rock was used as the specimen by employing the rock material model of MAT_PLASTIC_KINEMATIC,
which is a mixed model related to the strain rate and that considers a failure condition. The effect of the strain rate
on the strength is considered in the Cowper-Symonds criterion, wherein the relationship between yield stress and
strain rate is given as
 1

 ε&  p 
σ y = 1 +   (σ 1 + β E p ε peff
 ) (3)
 C  
 
where σy is the yield stress; ε& is the strain rate; C and p are parameters of Cowper-Symonds criterion; σ1 is the

initial yield stress; ε eff

p is the effective plastic strain; and Ep is the plastic hardening modulus. The main

parameters for the rock in the numerical simulation are listed in Table 5.
Table 5 Main parameters used for the rock in simulations
Density Dynamic elastic Poisson's Compressive Tensile strength
/kg·m-3 modulus /GPa ratio strength /MPa /MPa
2750 40 0.21 128 7.6
The material model of the explosive employed herein was MAT_HIGH_EXPLOSIVE_BURN, which
corresponds to the Jones-Wilkins-Lee equation of state. The relationship between the pressure and the specific
volume in the detonation process is given as

 ω  − R1V  ω  − R2V ω E0
P = A 1 − e + B 1 − e + , (4)
 R1V   R2V  V

where A, B, R1, R2 and ω are material constants, P is the pressure, V is the specific volume, and E0 is the initial
specific energy of the detonation products. The main parameters of the explosive used in the numerical simulation
are listed in Table 6.
Table 6 Main parameters used for the explosive in simulations
Density Detonation Detonation Initial specific
-3 -1
/kg·m pressure /GPa velocity /m·s energy /GPa
1787 25 6700 8.0
When air was used as the filling medium, the material model of air employed was MAT_NULL, which
corresponds to the LINEAR_POLYNOMIAL equation of state. When clay was used as the filling medium, the
material model of clay employed was MAT_SOIL_AND_FOAM, which is suitable for simulating the large
deformation behavior of soil and foam materials and can directly simulate the failure behavior of soil under large
deformations. In the numerical simulations, the densities used were 1.29 kg/m−3 for air and 1800 kg/m−3 for clay,
the shear modulus was 16.1 MPa, and the bulk modulus at discharge was 1.328 GPa.
In the numerical calculation, the Lagrange algorithm was used for rock and clay, while the arbitrary
Lagrangian-Eulerian algorithm was used for the explosive and air. The connection between the two algorithms
was established by a fluid–structure interaction.

4.2 Pressure at the borehole wall

The pressure peaks of the element at the borehole wall for different blasting conditions were extracted to
obtain the changing curves of the pressure peak p0 at the borehole with the decoupling coefficient α, as shown in
Fig. 13. In coupled charge blasting, the blasting shock wave directly acts on the borehole wall and the pressure
peak at the borehole wall reaches 3850 MPa. In clay-decoupled charge blasting, when the decoupling coefficient
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is αP=1.5 the pressure peak at the borehole wall is 375 MPa. In air-decoupled charge blasting, when the
decoupling coefficient is αA=1.5 the pressure peak at the borehole wall is 182 MPa. Thus, unlike with coupled
charge blasting, the filling medium in the decoupled charge blasting prevents the direct impact of the blasting
shock wave on the borehole wall, which greatly reduces the pressure peak at the borehole wall. With increasing
decoupling coefficient, whether using air or clay filling, the pressure peak at the borehole wall attenuates with a
mild degree of attenuation. With the same decoupling coefficient, the pressure peak of the clay filling is
significantly larger than that of the air filling, which indicates that the clay medium has a better transmission
efficiency for the blasting energy.
3900
Air decoupled

Pressure peak at borehole wall p0 / MPa

3800 Clay decoupled
400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
Decoupling coefficient α

Fig.13 Numerically-calculated peak pressure at the borehole wall as a function of decoupling coefficient for air-coupled and
clay-coupled blasting

5 Discussion and Conclusion

The model experimental results show that the transmission of the blasting energy in decoupled charge
blasting differs significantly with different filling media. In air-decoupled charge blasting, the energy transfer
efficiency of air is very low. Consequently, while reducing the crushing area around the borehole it also causes
excessive dissipation of the blasting energy, which significantly reduces the stress peak in specimens. In
plasticine-decoupled charge blasting, the stress peak in the specimen initially increases and then decreases with
increasing decoupling coefficient. In other words, unlike coupled charge blasting, the plasticine-decoupled charge
blasting can increase the stress peak in specimen within a certain range of the decoupling coefficient. For the
experiments herein, the decoupling coefficient range of the plasticine filling that maximizes the stress peak in the
specimen is 2.5<αP<3.5. It can be inferred that the blasting energy transfer characteristic of plasticine is the root
cause of such a variation in the stress peak, and a reasonable explanation is given below from the perspective of
energy transfer.
In coupled charge blasting, the blasting shock wave acts directly on the borehole wall. The numerical
simulation results show that the pressure peak at the borehole wall is as high as 3.85 GPa, resulting in a wide
crushing area around the borehole and causing the irrational use of blasting energy. In other words, in coupled
charge blasting, although the pressure peak at the borehole is extremely large, a large amount of the blasting
energy is consumed in the process of crushing the surrounding medium and thus the transfer of blasting energy to
the peripheral medium is very limited. In contrast, the plasticine-decoupled charge blasting can prevent the direct
impact of the blasting shock wave on the borehole wall and can reduce the excessive fragmentation of the
surrounding medium, thus allowing more blasting energy to be transmitted to the peripheral medium. In addition,
the blasting energy is initially transmitted to plasticine and then the plasticine acts on the borehole wall again.
Such a process reduces the loading rate of the blasting stress and increases the action time of the blasting stress on
the specimen. Therefore, compared with coupled charge blasting, in a certain range of the decoupling coefficient,
the plasticine-decoupled charge blasting increases the stress peak in the specimen. Also within this decoupling
coefficient range, the energy transfer advantage of plasticine is strengthened as the decoupling coefficient is
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increased. Of course, with further increase of the decoupling coefficient the blasting stress in the plasticine
attenuates geometrically and the advantage of energy transfer is not sufficient to compensate for the energy
dissipation caused by the geometrical attenuation, and thus the stress peak in the specimen decreases accordingly.
Under blast loading, the radial and circumferential stresses of the medium are both initially compressive and
subsequently tensile, though the radial stress is dominated by the compressive stress and the circumferential stress
is dominated by tensile stress. The circumferential stress attenuation of the gauging points in the specimens is
significantly larger than the radial stress attenuation, and both the radial and circumferential stresses initially
increase and then decrease with increasing decoupling coefficient. In the experiments herein, in the air-decoupled
charge blasting the stress attenuation index reaches its maximum when the decoupling coefficient is αA=2; while
in the plasticine-decoupled charge blasting the stress attenuation index reaches its maximum when the decoupling
coefficient is αP=3. Therefore, in decoupled charge blasting, there is a specific decoupling coefficient that allows
the blasting stress to have the greatest degree of attenuation in the specimens, and this decoupling coefficient is
related to properties of the filling medium.
The numerical simulation results show that, in terms of the peak pressure at the borehole wall under blast
loading, the change of the charge structure from coupled to decoupled is a qualitative process. In decoupled
charge blasting, the filling medium greatly reduces the peak pressure at the borehole wall. With increasing
decoupling coefficient, the pressure peak at the borehole wall attenuates with a mild degree of attenuation, which
is a quantitative process. In addition, in decoupled charge blasting, the difference in the transmission efficiency of
the blasting energy of the filling medium leads to the difference in the pressure at the borehole wall.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their valuable and constructive
comments. This research is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No.
2016YFC0600903) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51664007).

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