18.

16.0

14.0

12.0
SD [Holes/m2]

10.0

8.0 Inclined Holes

Parallel Holes
6.0

4.0

2.0

0.0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Cross Section [m2]

UNDERGROUND KPIs
Prof. Jacopo Seccatore 1
TYPES OF CUT

PARALLEL HOLES

INCLINED HOLES
PARAMETERS
Ss Cross Section m2
Ld Design Pull m
La Actual Pull m
η efficiency -
V Blasted Volume m3
C Charge kg
- Type of Explosive -
Q Powder Factor kg/m3
Cl Linear charge kg/m
d Blastholes Diameter mm
Ø Dummy Holes Diameter mm
N0 Dummy Holes Number
N01 Blastholes number -
N1 Total number of holes
N2 Cut blastholes number -
D1 Blastholes Density holes/m2
D2 Cut holes density holes/m2
- Type of Cut -
Sc Cut Cross Section m2
Se Cross section of dummy holes m2
Sz Section of zero-delay holes m2
b Angle of cut holes o

Vc Cut Volume m3
Qc Cut Powder Factor kg/m3
 18.0

16.0

14.0

12.0
SD [Holes/m2]

10.0

Inclined Holes
8.0 Parallel Holes

6.0

4.0

2.0

0.0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Cross Section [m2]
 7.00

6.00

5.00
Powder Factor [kg/m3]

4.00

Inclined Holes
3.00 Parallel Holes

2.00

1.00

0.00
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Cross Section [m2]
 DIFFICULTY OF TUNNELLING
𝐒𝐃 − 𝐒𝐃
𝚫= ∙ 100
18.0 𝐒𝐃
16.0
9.24 D Is the percentage
14.0 SD = 1.25 +
S deviation of the actual
SD [Holes/m2]

12.0
values under analysis
10.0 compared to the average
8.0 trend
6.0
4.0
Such a deviation can be
defined as the difficulty level
2.0
of tunnel driving, since it
0.0 expresses how far the case
0 50 100 150 200
Cross Section [m2]
studied is from the industrial
average
CLASSES OF DIFFICULTY

Class Percentage deviations

1 Δ ≤ –35%
2 –35% <Δ ≤ –20%
3 –20% <Δ ≤ –5%
4 –5% <Δ ≤ 10%
5 10% <Δ ≤ 25%
6 Δ> 25%
 Class I

Sandstone Limestone
50% 50%
 Class II

Slate Gneiss
14% 7%
Graywacke
7%

Shale Limestone
21% 22%

Quartzite
7%
Sandstone
22%
 Class III

Tuff Chalk
Slate
3% 3% Gneiss
7%
14%

Sandstone
20% Granite
13%

Quartzite
7%

Mixed geology
7% Graywacke
Limonite Limestone
3% 17% 3%
Hematite
3%
 Class IV

Dacite
3% Gabbro
3%
Shale Slate Basalt
3% 3% 3%
Sandstone
Quartzite 12%
3%
Peridotite
3%
Mixed geology
3%

Granite
44%

Micaschyst
3% Limestone
17%
 Class V

Slate Basalt
11% 5% Gneiss
Sandstone 11%
6%
Quartzite
6%

Mixed geology
11%

Limestone Granite
6% 39%
Leptite
5%
 Class VI

Chert
Mixed geology 8%
15%

Gneiss
23%

Limestone
31%

Granite
23%
OTHER CORRELATIONS
 18.0

16.0

14.0

12.0
SD [Holes/m2]

10.0

Inclined Holes
8.0 Parallel Holes

6.0

4.0

2.0

0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Actual Pull [m]
 9

6
Actual Pull [m]

Inclined Holes
4
Parallel Holes

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Cross Section [m2]
 Actual pull
0.35

0.3

0.25

0.2

Inclined holes
Parallel Holes
0.15

0.1

0.05

0
1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8
PULL EFFICIENCY

Preal
η=
Pdesign
 Efficiency
0.25

0.2

0.15

Inclined holes
Parallel Holes
0.1

0.05

0
0.8 0.82 0.84 0.86 0.88 0.9 0.92 0.94 0.96 0.98 1
 C

A
8
1 7

z 2
4

9 6
3

1m
z
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
7
7
7
8
8
8
9
9
Peak + [V]

Dt
Cavity Measurement

60 cm
 Cavity surface
9000

8000

7000

6000
Cavity Surface [cm2]

5000
Cavity surface after hole detonation
[cm2]
4000
Surface of prism blasted by hole [cm2]

3000

2000

1000

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Blasthole sequence
 Considering only peaks
8.00

7.00

6.00
Peak-to-peak voltage [V]

5.00
A
B
4.00
C
Linear (A)
3.00
Linear (B)
Linear (C)
2.00

1.00

0.00
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
Surface of prism blasted [cm2]
 Considering Peak * time
Ptp * Dt
1600

1400

1200

1000 A
B
V.s

800
C
600 Power (A)
Power (B)
R² = 0.2301
400 Power (C)
R² = 0.2864
200 R² = 0.2379

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
Surface of prism blasted by hole [cm2]
 𝑡1

Considering Shock Energy 𝐸 = න 𝑓(𝑡)

𝑡0
2
𝑑𝑡

Signal Energy
14.00

12.00
Signal Energy [ V2 ms2 ]

10.00

A
8.00
B
C
6.00 R² = 0.5131 Expon. (A)
R² = 0.7537 Expon. (B)
4.00
R² = 0.5756 Expon. (C)

2.00

0.00
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Surface of prism blasted by hole [cm2]
Finally…
WHOLE FACE
The angle of breakage
The angle of breakage defines two resistances of the rock in
place that the blasthole must win: the burden (hole-free face
distance) and the width of the crater it must create (rock
prism of competence). A certain equilibrium must be
achieved:

• Reduced burden eases the charge-face resistance, but

increases the border resistance at the edges of the
BURDEN prismatic crater that needs to be removed

• Reduced crater width increases the maximum line of

resistance (burden) inducing more effort for the explosive
to remove the rock.
Angle of breakage, prism of competence

The concept of prisms of competence of every

hole.
The shape of the prism depends on:
• Drilling geometry
• Initiation sequence

Excerpt from Langefors and Kihlstrom, 1967. The Modern

Technique of Rock Blasting. p. 207
Breaking angle along initiation sequence
 Some hint of correlation
1.000

R² = 0.6664

0.950 • SET A Group of outliers by heterogeneous kinds

of lithology.

0.900 R² = 0.6131 SET A

• SET B Majority of points, belonging to the widest
Efficiency

SET B
SET C
range of lithologies.
Linear (SET A)
0.850
Linear (SET B)
Linear (SET C) • SET C Hard, igneous intrusive rocks, with a single
R² = 0.1225 exception of a high-resistant, fine-grained
0.800
sedimentary rock (leptite).

0.750
50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Angle of Breakage [°]
 Some hint of correlation
1.000

R² = 0.6664 All sets show the same trend: lower

0.950 efficiency for wider angles of breakage.

Lithology seems to play also a crucial role.

0.900 R² = 0.6131 SET A
Efficiency

SET B
SET C
While the outliers set comprehend
Linear (SET A)
0.850
Linear (SET B)
transversal kinds of lithology, a specific
Linear (SET C) cluster can be isolated for high-competent
R² = 0.1225
intrusive rocks such as granites and gneiss.
0.800

This aspect need further investigation.

0.750
50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Angle of Breakage [°]
 Some hint of correlation
1.000

R² = 0.6664

0.950

Industrial blast patterns have an average angle

of breakage above 50 degrees
0.900 R² = 0.6131 SET A
Efficiency

SET B
SET C
ranging between the angles of single holes
Linear (SET A) between 55 degrees and 140 degrees.
0.850
Linear (SET B)
Linear (SET C)
The highest value of efficiency was measured
R² = 0.1225
for an average angle of breakage of about 65
0.800
degrees.

Higher average angles of breakage from this

0.750
50 60 70 80 90 100 110 value show lower efficiencies.
Angle of Breakage [°]
DATABASE ANALYSIS: CORRELATIONS
• The correlation coefficient is a measure
that determines the degree to which two
variables' movements are associated.
• Pearson's correlation coefficient is the
correlation coefficient for the least squared
regression. It is the covariance of the two
variables divided by the product of their
standard deviations.
• The range of values for the correlation
coefficient is -1.0 to 1.0. If a calculated
correlation is greater than 1.0 or less than
-1.0, a mistake has been made. A
correlation of -1.0 indicates a perfect
negative correlation, while a correlation of
1.0 indicates a perfect positive correlation.
Correlation coefficient
Correlation
Correlation
Correlation
Decline of pirates causes global warming!
TREAT REGRESSION MODELS WITH CARE

18

16

14

12

10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14