Drifting Advance With Self-Swelling Cartridge Stemming Material: Preparation and Application—A Case Study Analysis With Comparison to Clay Stemming
Xu S. Li Z. Suorineni F. Li R. Ai J.
2025John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Shock and Vibration
2025#2025Issue 1
In response to issues such as low blasting efficiency and poor blast hole utilization in drift excavation blasting, a self-swelling cartridge (SSC) stemming tailored for drift excavation was developed. The SSC evaluation criteria for stemming performance are based on its expansion pressure and frictional force between the stemming material and blast hole wall. Optimization experiments for the SSC charge density were conducted, and the optimal charge density was determined to be 1.8 g/cm3. The annulus between the SSC and blast hole optimization experiments determined the optimal annulus to be 4 mm, with a maximum expansion pressure of 24.7 MPa of the SSC and maximum static frictional force of 52.4 kN at the contact of the cartridge and blast hole wall. Step-by-step blasting experiments were initially conducted based on the SSC. The results indicate that compared to clay stemming, the SSC stemming material increased the length of drift advance by 0.2 m; the width of drift after detonation of auxiliary holes increased by 0.21 m; after blasting perimeter holes, the advance increased by 0.2 m, the width by 0.31 m, and the underbreak rate decreased by 21.3% all relative to the clay stemming results. Subsequently, a complete set of drift excavation experiments were conducted. The results demonstrate that using the SSC stemming material reduced the oversize fragmentation rate by 6.08%, increased the drift advance by 0.2 m, reduced the average final drift width underbreak by 0.233 m, and reduced the average drift height underbreak by 0.245 m. Furthermore, by reducing the charge density by 10% after adopting the SSC stemming material, compared to the existing clay stemming in mines, the oversize fragmentation rate decreased by 4.5%, advance increased by 0.2 m, the average horizontal under-excavation decreased by 0.17 m, and the drift width underbreak decreased by 0.226 m relative to the results of the clay stemming. Each blasting operation could save $27.96. These findings demonstrate that using SSC stemming material significantly enhances blast hole utilization, increases drift advance rate, reduces oversize fragmentation rates, and improves drift excavation quality. Copyright
blast hole utilization , drift excavation , field experiment , self-swelling cartridge stemming , under-excavation , unexcavated rock
Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи
Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Safe Mining, Northeastern University, Liaoning, Shenyang, 110819, China
School of Mining and Geosciences, Nazarbayev University, 53 Kabanbay Batyr Avenue, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Safe Mining
School of Mining and Geosciences
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026