Numerical study of control of crack propagation on removal of field-scaled concrete block by blasting technique

Mechanical breakage of concrete structures involves many safety risks to site workers as well as general public living in the vicinity mainly due to noise hazard. A dynamic breakage system utilizing wedged charge holder which was made of steel was suggested for partial removal of concrete block in short time and for reducing the damage to the remaining parts. A field-scale blasting experiment was performed to investigate the effect of the charge holder on the resultant fracture plane. In this study, based on the result of field-scale blasting experiment for the partial removal of concrete block, dynamic fracture process analysis (DFPA) was applied assuming the field blasting experiment and crack propagations were analyzed under various types of applied loads. We showed that maximum pressure and rise time of pressure significantly affected the resultant fracture patterns in case of using the proposed charge holders.