Stability Analysis of Underground Multicavities in Bench Blasting Vibration

Underground cavities formed by underground mining activities are a potential threat to open-pit mining activities. Longtan Village Iron Mine is located in Chengde city, Hebei province, China. The open-pit mining and underground mining of Longtan Village Iron Mine are simultaneously performed. Cavities will remain after underground mining. When mining is performed on the top of the underground cavities in the open pit, concerns arise regarding the closest distance to prevent the collapse of the cavities. (The closest distance is the safe distance between the explosive and the cavities. If the distance between the explosive and the cavities is less than the closest distance, the stability of the cavities will be affected.) The collapse will endanger the safety of the workers and equipment in the open pit. Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the stability of the underground cavities near the bench blasting. In this paper, a series of bench blast tests was performed, and the site-specific attenuation relations of the PPV (Peak particle velocity) and principal frequency of Longtan Village Iron Mine were obtained. Then, an ANASYS three-dimensional numerical model was created, and the propagation of the blast wave and the response of the multicavities were calculated by LS-DYNA. The accuracy of the simulation was verified. However, the bench blast tests do not affect the stability of the cavities. The formula to calculate the closest distance was obtained, which can be used as an approximate guide when designing the bench explosion of Longtan Village Iron Mine. Workers can mine in a safe area of the open pit, and the stability of the cavities will not be affected.