Assessment of seismic energy obtained from blast induced ground vibrations using signal processing computation techniques

Enhanced demand for coal and minerals in the country has developed an interest on the environmental problems, which may have potential harm and cause disturbance. Ground vibrations generated due to blasting operations in mines and quarries are very important environmental aspect to be looked into by the researchers. It is clear that a small amount of total explosive energy is being utilized in blasting for breakage of rock mass while the rest is being wasted. The amount of energy which is wasted causes various environmental issues such as ground vibrations, air over pressure and fly rock. Ground vibrations caused by blasting cannot be totally eliminated, yet they can be minimized as far as possible through a suitable blasting methodology. Considerable amount of work has been done to identify ground vibrations and assess the blast performance in terms of the intensity of ground vibrations. However, not much research has gone into the seismic energy and utilizing this energy in understanding performance of blast rounds. In this paper, an attempt was made for the estimation of seismic energy dissipated at different distances from the blast site using Signal Processing Techniques with the help of DADiSP and Advanced Blastware software in three different formations, viz. Limestone, Sandstone and Underground Coal Mine. In total, 116 blast vibration events from Limestone Mines, 96 blast vibration events from Underground Coal Mine and 43 blast vibration events from Sandstone Mines were collected using ground vibration monitors for Signal Processing Analysis of Seismic Energy. Blast induced ground vibrations were recorded in three orthogonal directions collecting 2100-2500 particle motion samples for each.