Search Documents

By M. Gensamer

IT has been suggested by a number of people that it would be worth while for some one to attempt to summarize or condense the proceedings of this symposium. This task has fallen to me as organizer and co-chairman. Its difficulty will be appreciated by anyone who attempts to read the whole proceedings. It is therefore with trepidation that I offer the following digest. In recent years there has been a renewal of interest in America on this subject of the cohesive strength of materials, and a growing appreciation of the need for a better theory of cohesion failure. The theories of elastic action and plastic action are well developed, particularly the former. The theory of plastic action is still in the course of development, but it is well along. Plastic action is terminated by cohesion failure and what is needed is a theory that will tell us when to expect the cohesion failure. In the past it has generally been assumed that cohesion failure will occur when a critical value of the maximum tensile stress has been reached. Many experiments have shown that this is not strictly true, and this symposium concerns itself with the failures of this simple hypothesis, and with the efforts that have been made to devise a more satisfactory theory. The most active contributor in recent years to knowledge in this field is Dr. McAdam, and he was asked to open the symposium with a summary or condensation of his papers and views. Undoubtedly it is presumptuous to attempt a still greater condensation, but perhaps it will be useful, because even his contribution to this symposium contains no summary, no concise statement of just what his contribution has bees. Dr. McAdam makes two main points. The first is that the cohesive strength is not a single valued quantity, but that it is a function of all three principal stresses and hence must be represented diagrammatically by a surface in a three-dimensional figure. Dr. McAdam has attempted so to delineate the cohesion limit, basing his

Jan 1, 1944

By F. N. Speller

Interest in the corrosion problem seems to continue without abatement and is bringing practical results. At least four important conferences on this subject have been held during the last 5 months. Those interested in steel-frame structures are taking steps to study vulnerable points on account of the failure of some minor parts in certain buildings after 35 years of service. The steam power-plant group, including the railroads, realize the importance of a better knowledge of corrosion, especially under modern high-temperature boiler operations. The chemical and refrigerating industries have already conducted a systematic study of depreciation of metals by corrosion, for which they have spent considerable money and time during the last 2 years with encouraging results. More has probably been done to control corrosion in the atmosphere and in closed water systems, because the work on these phases of the problem started over 15 years ago and the important factors are now fairly well understood. As a result of all this work, there is now little excuse for corrosion in water conduits, recirculating condensers and cooling systems, since economical means of prevention have been worked out to meet nearly all situations where such corrosion occurs. The entire Baltimore water supply was treated with lime at a cost of only 35 c. per million gallons and the rate of attack on the pipes has been reduced to not over 20 per cent. of what it was before the treatment. Yearly damage to water mains in Baltimore is estimated at $300,000, and in New York City at $5,000,000, not including damage to water conduits in buildings. In some cities corrosion is now recognized by water works' engineers as a major problem. In the oil industry, there are evidently three general classes of corrosion, relating to: (I) Production, (2) transportation, and (3) refining. (1) Production.—Some fields, those of California for example, have little corrosion trouble in the wells. In others this is a major problem and should be a strong incentive to the development of more resistant metals at a reasonable cost. E. G. Woodruff,' consulting geologist, has pointed out that more of the oil of the future will probably come from the

Jan 1, 1927

By Leo Tarasov

MAGNETIC torque studies of ferromagnetic single crystals have been carried out in a number of laboratories during the last decade1,2 and some work has been reported on polycrystalline material showing preferred orientation. Goss3 used the method extensively in developing electrical sheet with desirable magnetic properties, but he used it as a control rather than as a means of studying the texture. Bozorth4 made a quantitative correlation of a torque curve he obtained from some cold-rolled iron with the texture as determined from X-rays, but did not extend his studies beyond the one specimen. Other studies, which have been reported from time to time 1.5 have also been incomplete in the sense that no effort was made to study a whole series of samples, differing only in degree of cold reduction, or in the annealing temperature, in order to ascertain the effect of such treatments on the texture as revealed by torque measurements. It is the purpose of this investigation to make such a study, mainly in order to see how useful the method can be made when used under favorable circumstances and to find what kind of a correlation can be expected between magnetic and X-ray studies of texture. Before proceeding further, it is desirable to say a little about single crystals, so as to make clear the concepts involved in magnetic torque measurements.

Jan 1, 1939

NEW MEMBER, The following list comprises the names of those persons who became members during the period Mar. 10 to Apr. 10, 1915: Members ADAMS, Louis WINFIELD, Supt., Rolling Mills, Lehigh Plant, Bethlehem Steel Co., So. Bethlehem, Pa.. ALLEN, ARTHUR WATTS, Mine Mgr Rodeo, San Juan, Argentina., BALL, EDWIN MARCOTTEL, Mine Supt., Ishkooda. Mines, Care Tenn. Coal, Iron & R. R. Co., H.F.D. 1, Birmingham, Ala. BOLN, CHARLES A., Oil salesman 135 S. 2d St., Philadelphia., Pa. BOYD, DAVID F., Naval Officer Navy Department, Washington, D. C. CAPERTON, GEORGE HENRY Charleston, W. Va. COGGESHALL, GEORGE W., Chem. Engr., Institute of Industrial Research, Washington D C

Jan 5, 1915

By David L. Riley

Organization The Foundling Years - 1901-1921 Two events that occurred in the decade of the 1870's have had far- reaching effects upon the petroleum industry in the U. S. and formed a basis for the birth and growth of the petroleum engineering profession. In 187 1 a group of mining engineers banded together to form the American Institute of Mining Engineers "to promote the arts and sciences connected with the economic production of the useful minerals and metals and the welfare of those employed in these industries by all lawful means". Although it was to be 30 years before an event in Jefferson County, Tex., would cause petroleum to come into prominence as the world's principal source of energy, the founding of AIME provided an organization through which the application of engineering to the recovery of petroleum and natural gas could be developed. In 1875, a Pennsylvania judge who was called upon to make a decision for which there was no precedent reasoned that oil and gas were like wild game - they belong to the man who can reduce them to possession. His decision sired the "rule of capture", which stated that a landowner possesses the oil produced from his well, even though it might have come from beneath his neighbor's land. This interpretation prevailed for more than half a century, during which time gold-rush tactics were employed in the drilling and production of many oil fields in the U. S. The resulting overproduction and tremendous waste led to a virtual economic collapse of the U. S. petroleum industry by the early 1930's. To bring these malpractices under orderly control, proration and conservation policies were developed, and petroleum engineering became the medium through which they were devised and implemented. At the turn of the 20th Century, more than 90 percent of this country's oil production came from the East, but the picture changed with dramatic suddenness on Jan. 10, 1901. Captain Anthony F. Lucas, an Austrian mining engineer, had noticed concentrations of oil and gas near salt domes during mining operations on the Louisiana Gulf Coast. In 1899 he leased a low mound near Beaumont, Tex., began drilling, and after almost 2 years of intermittent operations, brought in the famous "Lucas Gusher"

Jan 1, 1971

By John V. Beall

Copper production in the. United States in 1972 amounted to 1,658,000 tons according to the USBM. This figure is up over 1971 but falls below 1970 production of 1,719,101 tons. This report is essentially about the status of copper mining operations in the U.S. and is an update and expansion of the report "Southwest Copper-A Position Survey" published in [A=], October 1965. At that time, the trend was toward using larger equipment to mine lower grade ore and toward the expansion of dump leaching practice. That trend continues today but, it is overlain by intensive activity to comply with existing environ¬mental legislation and uncertainty over proposed revisions of venerable laws governing mining. In the U.S. today there is, practically speaking, no excess smelting capacity so that expansion of copper production through the startup of new mines is inhibited. Owners of a large undeveloped orebody would have to decide before going into production whether to sell the concentrates offshore, which has many problems, whether to try one of several unproved chemical processes for producing refined metal from concentrates or embarking on the construction of a traditional pyrometallurgical plant in the face of considerable uncertainty over the pollution standards that eventually must be met. The situation is such that not only is the present rate of U.S. copper production threatened but the ability to meet projected increased demand in the years ahead may have been severely retarded.

Jan 4, 1973

By R. W. Raymond

[NOTE.-This paper was presented at the Pittsburgh meeting in a partially completed form, and I fully expected to obtain, before the period of its publication, both the data and the leisure required for its completion. The hygiene of collieries was to have been separately considered, and the sanitary conditions of various metallurgical industries connected with mining were to receive an extended discussion, while at the same time the points treated in the paper as presented at Pittsburgh were to have more ample illustration from American and European sources. Delay in obtaining expected information, and the continuous pressure of professional work, have prevented hitherto the execution of this plan ; and I can now publish only a portion of what I had designed to contribute to the subject. In the meantime this portion, but slightly changed, has been included as a chapter on the Hygiene of Metal Mines in a work entitled Hygiene and Public Health, edited by Dr. A. H. Buck, of New York. An excellent chapter on the Hygiene of Coal Mines, contributed to the same work by Mr. Henry C. Sheafer, of Pottsville, affords me an opportunity to supply one of the deficiencies above alluded to. Mr. Sheafer's chapter contains much material in the way of explanations not required by professional readers; and he moreover devotes a considerable space to the explosive gases, falls of roof, and other causes of accidents to life or limb-a branch of the subject not belonging strictly to hygiene. I therefore make extracts only from his treatise.-R. W. R] IT is convenient to divide mines, with reference to this subject, into two classes, collieries and metal-mines. Subterranean quarries, rock-salt mines, etc., present no conditions requiring them to be separated from the latter class.

Jan 1, 1880

By Victor M. Braschi

The railroad history of Mexico began with the first presidential term of General Diaz. Concessions for the building of railroads had been granted in former years; indeed, an exclusive privilege was granted, August 22, 1837, to Francisco de Arrillaga for the construction of a railroad from Mexico to Vera Cruz, with a branch to Puebla, and other concessions were granted from then on at various periods; but the year 1877 was the real beginning of the regular and constant decelopment of the railways of Mexico. The programme laid out at that time by the new government, and responded to by the nation, was to develop its natural ele-

Jan 1, 1902

By Ralph Hayden

I. INTRODUCTION. IN the wet concentration of ores there is always a certain amount of very fine material with which to contend, and which invariably carries such quantities of value that the treatment of it is worth while; commercially. This fine material usually contains that portion of the ore which hinders the separation of the mineral values: namely, the colloidal material resulting from the decomposition of certain constituents of the ore. The object of this paper is to show what efforts have been made to solve the slime problem as it occurs in the concentrator of the Washoe

Jan 8, 1913

By John J. Schanz

INTRODUCTION The two prior Seeley W. Mudd books on mineral economics devoted their final chapters to themes having to do with the future. In 1932, the last chapter in Mineral Economics8 was "The Future Value of Mineral Property" by J. R. Finlay. Both the first edition (1959) of Economics of the Mineral Industries7 and the slightly revised second edition (1964) closed with "Minerals and Man's Future" by Zay Jeffries. We are not inclined in this third AIME volume on mineral economics to ignore the tradition of the prior volumes. Moreover, it always is fitting and proper to close a book about the mineral industries by examining in a rather general way the challenges and uncertainties that are perpetually strewn in our path as we pick our way into the future. Unlike its predecessor volumes, which were written to acquaint the nonspecialist with the economic characteristics of mineral resources and to provide data about the mineral industries, this edition was also designed with the mineral economics student and practicing specialist in mind. Thus it is anticipated that it will be both a reference as well as suitable for use as a textbook. Consequently, this closing examination of our changing perspectives about mineral resources devotes some space to the past events and current status of mineral economics as a field of study. The fears and forecasts of the past can be a perceptive and usually deflating way to begin an examination of the future. As we look up and down the track of time from the 1975 platform, we find that many of the past views of the future were transient in character, others were imperfect in their prognosis, while others were based on fears that now seemed unfounded. But down through the years some of the observations or expressions of concern have a persistency which perhaps reflects some elemental characteristics of mineral resources. On these "truths" rest our contemporary understanding of the economics of the mineral industries. The uncertainties and priorities for the next 25 or more years, not surprisingly, have a somewhat different mix than those that seemed most compelling to our predecessors in 1932 or 1959. So it is appropriate that we review how the perspective of the mineral economist has changed over the span of a half century. In light of the particular interest of AIME on the role technology must play, it is fitting that we close with some observations on that topic. THE EMERGENCE OF MINERAL ECONOMICS AS A FIELD OF STUDY The publication of Mineral Economics by the AIME in 1932 as a Seeley W. Mudd volume marked the end of emerging interest in

Jan 1, 1976

By W. H. Bassett, C. H. Davis

ALTHOUGH brasses and bronzes have been made for ages, a systematic study of their physical properties has been carried out only during the years of the present century. Among these properties may be included those which are to be detected by means of microscopic examination; in other. words by the science of metallography. The earlier workers in this field, both in this country and abroad, gave their attention to steel. When the senior author explored the situation in 1902, there was little encouragement to be found in undertaking the study of the non-ferrous alloys. A start was made, and the metallography of the brasses and bronzes, as well as of the copper-nickel-zinc alloys developed materially under his direction. Annealing experiments were begun in 1902, and in the succeeding years the effect of temperature, and the influence of previous working, on the grain size of brass were studied. The conclusions so well known and widely published today were largely reached during those earlier years. . In 1905 the first complete annealing series were made. By this it is meant that brass and copper sheet, 5 B & S Nos. hard, was machined into tensile test specimens, then annealed under accurate control for 30 min. at temperatures up to the melting point of the material. Various determinations were made, including tensile strength and elongation in 2 in. There rapidly followed similar series on all of the copper-zinc alloys from 100 to 60 per cent. copper, on the bronzes, cupronickels, and on copper-zinc-nickel alloys. At this point there was published by Grard, in October, 1909,1 the very comprehensive and complete work on the tensile properties of cartridge brass, 90-10 copper-zinc, and electrolytic copper. The excellent photomicrographs in that paper illustrated the changes in structure produced by cold rolling as well as by annealing at different temperatures, but where Grard's work was confined to copper and to two alloys, the investigations in this laboratory have been over the entire fields of the commercial copper-zinc alloys, copper-tin alloys, representative copper-nickel and copper-nickel-zinc alloys as well as aluminum bronzes and others of a more special nature.

Jan 1, 1928

By C. W. Mason

TIN has long been cited as offering a classic example of polymorphism, second in repute only to the allotropy of sulphur. The notorious "tin disease," which Cohen1 has studied so exhaustively in terms of the enantiotropic transformation of tetragonal white 0 tin to cubic gray a tin, has apparently encouraged the expectation that one or more addi-tional polymorphic modifications might exist. The search for confirma-tion of this idea has, as might be anticipated, led to the accumulation of a body of miscellaneous evidence, much of which would probably never have been sought, or taken seriously even by its discoverers, but for previous assumptions. The ball apparently was started rolling in 1880 by Trechmann,' who reported a new modification of tin (y tin), which was brittle and found in "hard head," a highly arsenical, slaggy material produced in a certain stage of tin smelting. A mixture of two kinds of crystals was obtained from a Cornish tin furnace, and those thought to be y tin were studied crystallographically. The results indicated that these crystals were rhombic and of different density from the tetragonal tin prepared electrolytically by Miller.3 Their analysis was given as 98.7 per cent Sn, 1.3 per cent Fe, and traces of As, Sb, Bi and S. In 1881 von Foullon4 obtained similar crystals from a Bohemian tin furnace. Headden5 examined crystals similar to those of Trechmann and von Foullon and reported them to be monoclinic, but of analysis corresponding to stannous sulphide. Later, Stevanovic,6 by goniometric measurements, proved that these crystals of SnS were really rhombic. Groth7 pictures and describes both "rhombic tin" (Fig. 9, vol. 1) and stannous sulphide (Fig. 84, vol. 1); their faces and angles correspond within the accuracy of measurement. Spencer3 in 1921 examined the above evidence critically; he found similar crystals from Cornish tin furnaces, proved them to be SnS, and even was able to analyze some of Trechmann's original specimens, finding high sulphur content. (Apparently Trechmann's analysis had been based on a second lot of crystals, not described crystallographically.)

Jan 1, 1939

By Samuel M. Brock

In recent years society has become increasingly concerned with maintaining and improving the quality of environment. Thus, public interest and concern with pollution problems is now high. This is reflected in recent federal and state efforts to formulate new legislation to prevent pollution and strengthen existing pollution laws. In reviewing literature pertaining to pollution problems, it is possible to distinguish many common elements. The most outstanding of these is the failure of the market to guarantee that private firms responding to price signals generated in the marketplace will make decisions leading to optimal resource use. Cases of market failure in allocating natural resources according to the wants of society frequently are due to the presence of technical externalities, or side-use effects.59 These roughly and generally can be defined as interdependencies among production and consumption units, the impacts of which are exerted other than through the market. They are, in other words, extra-market relationships. The economic unit generating external effects does not take them into account in decision-making. Thus, the tendency is for the unit to produce either more than society desires or not enough. In such cases society often has intervened in the decision-making process. This intervention frequently has taken the form of legislation to regulate production and consumption activities. Thus, a body of institutions, which acts as a constraint in decision-making processes, has materialized. These institutions are often far more influential in their effect upon resource use than are the forces of supply and demand acting in the marketplace. The problem of environmental pollution is essentially the problem of handling residuals which are the byproduct of all production and consumption activities which take place in the economy.2 These residuals are emitted into the air and water and disposed of on the land. They are interrelated, in that efforts to control emissions into the air or water can result in the production of solid wastes, which then present disposal problems. It is convenient to separate residuals by the type of pollution they cause-air, water, and land while remembering that these problems are related and that solutions may require coordinated effort.1 Residuals may be produced in both production processes and consumption. Residuals produced in production by the mineral industry, or firms utilizing its products, range from emission of sulfur dioxide by steam generating plants to radioactive mill tailings produced in the course of mining uranium.. Residuals associated with consumption are generated mainly through transportation of members of the household, space heating, and in the disposal of solid wastes, including refuse and junk autos. Residuals associated with both production and consumption receive attention in ensuing sections of this chapter.

Jan 1, 1976

By Coolbaugh, Franklin

CRUSHING of Climax mine-run ore is carried out in two plants: No. 1 plant (flowsheet in Fig. 1) has a capacity of approximately 5000 tons per day. It is used as a stand-by except when maximum production is required. No. 2 plant (Fig. 2) has a top capacity of approximately 17,000 tons per day. The No. 2 crusher is more efficient to operate on reduced tonnages regardless of the wide variation in peak capacities. The system of crushing is similar in both plants: Mine ore, of a size which can be drawn through 48 by 96-in. slusher openings underground, is dumped into the crusher bins from ten-ton mine cars and fed into 48 by 60-in. Buchanan jaw crushers by means of chutes and Ross chain feeders. The jaw crushers are set to discharge at approximately 9-in. size. Jaw crusher discharge is conveyed to 7-ft. Symons standard cone crushers where it is broken to minus-2-in. size,

Jan 1, 1946

By J. D. Livingston, J. J. Becker

A MAJOR difficulty in the experimental study of precipitation-hardening is the measurement of particle sizes too small to be easily resolved with the microscope. It has been shown recently, however, that magnetic measurements on copper-cobalt al- loys in the aged state can be used to determine the average volume, total volume, volume distribution, and shape of the ferromagnetic cobalt-rich particles, even though the particles are submicroscopic in size. r' These alloys also are known to exhibit considerable precipitation hardening. This paper reports some results on the dependence of the mechanical properties of such an alloy on the particle size, determined magnetically. It further illustrates the use of other magnetic measurements in interpreting structure changes occurring during deformation.

Jan 1, 1959

By Portland P. Fox, Berlen C. Moneymaker

The development, within recent years, of core drills capable of drilling holes up to 72 in., or even more, in diameter, has made possible an entirely new and valuable method of geologic exploration. Although little used until recently as an exploratory tool except in the United States, by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Corps of Engineers of the U. S. Army, for the exploration of damsites, the large-diameter core drill may be used to good advantage in other types of geologic exploration. Its principal utility is that of supplementing, rather than replacing, other means of exploration. Although core is frequently recovered intact, the greatest advantage of large-diameter drilling is that the holes produced are large enough to be entered by the geologist and engineer, and thus afford an excellent means of examining undisturbed rock. The walls of the holes are smoothly cut, and in some rocks nearly or quite polished, so that the most minute details of structure and stratigraphy are clearly disclosed. Such features as faults, joints, bedding planes, weathered "seams," and beds or layers of soft materials, which are not always amenable to disclosure by cores recovered from small-diameter holes, are conspicuously displayed in the walls of large holes. Frequent reference to the drilling of large-diameter holes is made in engineering literature, but comparatively little emphasis has been placed on their value in geologic investigation. It is, therefore, intended that the present paper acquaint the geologist, as well as the engineer, with the large-diameter core drill and the technique involved in its use, and also with its advantages, disadvantages and limitations as an implement of geologic exploration. The Equipment The equipment generally employed in the drilling of large-diameter holes consists of a trunnion-type drill head mounted on a sliding base, which allows it to slide clear of the hole and thus permit the introduction

Jan 1, 1941

By Portland P. Fox, Berlen C. Moneymaker

The development, within recent years, of core drills capable of drilling holes up to 72 in., or even more, in diameter, has made possible an entirely new and valuable method of geologic exploration. Although little used until recently as an exploratory tool except in the United States, by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Corps of Engineers of the U. S. Army, for the exploration of damsites, the large-diameter core drill may be used to good advantage in other types of geologic exploration. Its principal utility is that of supplementing, rather than replacing, other means of exploration. Although core is frequently recovered intact, the greatest advantage of large-diameter drilling is that the holes produced are large enough to be entered by the geologist and engineer, and thus afford an excellent means of examining undisturbed rock. The walls of the holes are smoothly cut, and in some rocks nearly or quite polished, so that the most minute details of structure and stratigraphy are clearly disclosed. Such features as faults, joints, bedding planes, weathered "seams," and beds or layers of soft materials, which are not always amenable to disclosure by cores recovered from small-diameter holes, are conspicuously displayed in the walls of large holes. Frequent reference to the drilling of large-diameter holes is made in engineering literature, but comparatively little emphasis has been placed on their value in geologic investigation. It is, therefore, intended that the present paper acquaint the geologist, as well as the engineer, with the large-diameter core drill and the technique involved in its use, and also with its advantages, disadvantages and limitations as an implement of geologic exploration. The Equipment The equipment generally employed in the drilling of large-diameter holes consists of a trunnion-type drill head mounted on a sliding base, which allows it to slide clear of the hole and thus permit the introduction

Jan 1, 1941

By AIME AIME

On Nov. 11, 1909, M. Alexandre Pourcel, of Paris, France, upon the proposal of a large number of distinguished members, and the unanimous recommendation of the Council, was elected by the Board of Directors an Honorary Member of the Institute. M. Pourcel has devoted forty-three years to the metallurgy of iron and steel ; and the work which he did between thirty and forty years ago constitutes an important part of the founda¬tion of the practice of to-day. Among his striking contribu¬tions are : (1) his perfection, in 1869, of the manufacture of high-grade ferro-manganese in a carbon-lined open-hearth furnace, instead of the costly crucibles previously used; (2) his discovery, in 1874, of the method of making solid steel cast¬ings; (3) his manufacture, in 1875, of ferro-manganese and silico-spiegel in the blast-furnace; and (4) his anticipation, in 1875, of modern American blast-furnace practice, by the pro¬duction, in a very small furnace, of Bessemer pig containing 2.5 per cent. of silicon, from a burden yielding only 46 per cent. of iron, and with a consumption, per ton of pig, of only 1,8401b. of coke, containing 15 per cent. of ash. These brilliant pioneer achievements, together with his contributions to cur¬rent technical literature, won for him the Bessemer gold medal of the Iron and Steel Institute ; the great" medal of honor," which is the highest award of the French Society of Mineral Industry, and other gold medals, as well as the distinction of honorary membership of the Comité des Forges de France, which was conferred upon him in 1891. In recent years, M. Pourcel has been instrumental, as consulting engineer of the Société de Commentry-Fourchambault, at Decazeville, France, in an extraordinary development of the manufacture of special steels. The Invar plant, of this company, is said to make a greater variety of such steels (includ-

Dec 1, 1909

By Harrison R. Cooper

The key to concentrator automation is practical means for obtaining continuous assay data from concentrator streams. The technique most successfully used is x-ray fluorescence analysis. The practical reality of on-stream x-ray analysis has been achieved through effort over the past twenty years, marked by an occasional breakthrough, but more typically a step-by-step development to which many individuals and organizations have contributed. The net result of this progress is the present capability to install on-stream x-ray analyzer systems on a turn-key basis. It is now possible to provide all components of an x-ray analysis system as a completely engineered unit which can be put into immediate use, minimizing needs for specialized application knowledge to benefit from continuous assaying in process control. The economic factors which influence the choice of system and limitations of the x-ray fluorescence technique for slurry analysis are reviewed.

Jan 1, 1976

By S. A. Shoop, J. J. K. Daemen

Site-specific blast vibration prediction can be more accurate than using a universal prediction equation. Vibrations from 37 blasts were monitored using three seismographs. Data analysis showed that square root, cube root, and site-specific scaling predicted ground motion with equal reliability. Imprecise prediction is caused by geologic and blast variability, particularly, inaccurate delay times. Vibrations at some mines were consistently lower or higher than vibrations predicted from US Bureau of Mines (USBM) equations. Vibration restrictions based on USBM studies could then be too conservative or too lenient. Predominant vibration frequencies were generally less than 50 Hz, but several blasts had significant energy up to 125 Hz. In some cases, energy was concentrated at frequencies corresponding to delay intervals.

Jan 1, 1985