Enhancing Rock Blasting Efficiency in Mining and Tunneling: A Comparative Study of Shear-Thickening Fluid Stemming and Plug Device Performance

Stemming has a major impact on energy containment inside a blasting hole and is essential for increasing the efficacy of explosive charges in rock blasting. This method is essential in many fields, including road project development, mining, tunneling, and underground construction. By fortifying the confinement of the energy generated by a loaded explosive charge in a blasting hole, stemming increases the fragmentation of rock. Improper or missing stemming leads to the gas escaping in advance from blast holes, resulting not only in the wastage of explosive energy and poor fragmentation but also in environmental problems such as ground vibration, noise, flying rocks, back breaks, and air blasts. When the process to keep gases inside blast holes is not performed correctly or is skipped, it can waste explosive energy and produce poorly fragmented rocks. This also causes problems like high ground vibrations, loud noise, flying rocks, cracks behind the blast area, and strong air shocks. In this study, a shock chamber blasting experiment and numerical analysis were conducted to evaluate the pressure confinement effect of stemming material and plug devices in a blast hole. The resulting stemming effect was compared with that of a shear-thickening fluid (STF)-based stemming material currently under development and sand, which is a commonly used blast stemming material. To evaluate the enhancement of the confinement effect inside the pressurized blast hole, three types of stemming plugs were adopted. The blasting experiment and numerical simulation results revealed that the STF-based stemming materials were superior to conventional stemming materials. In addition, the STF-based stemming and plug system can prevent detonation gas from prematurely overflowing the borehole and effectively prolong the action time and scope of the detonation gas in the borehole.