Vibration Failure of Young Low-Temperature Concrete Shaft Linings Caused by Blasting Excavation

Abstract

The freezing-blasting method constitutes the only available technique for excavating mining shafts within water-bearing bedrock. This study explores the effects of vibration damage to young C65 concrete shaft linings caused by close-range blasting excavation using the finite element method. C65 concrete test specimens were made in the laboratory and then cured at −7°C, and the elastic modulus, compressive strength, and longitudinal wave velocity were tested. The allowable dynamic tensile strength of the concrete for each mold of the shaft lining was obtained according to the observed strain rate of the concrete shaft lining using a regression formula. The finite element simulation results are basically consistent with the in situ measurements, thereby attesting to the validity of the numerical simulation. The blasting-induced vertical peak vibration velocity of the first mold of the concrete shaft lining reached 20∼25 cm/s, which far surpasses the allowable vibration velocity range (i.e., 2∼3 cm/s) in the Safety Regulations for Blasting for newly cast concrete between the initial setting and an age of 3 d. The tensile stress of the first concrete mold calculated by the finite element method is approximately equal to the theoretical tensile stress, both of which are smaller than the dynamic tensile strength of concrete. The cumulative energy sustained by the shaft lining of each mold and the allowable values of the dynamic tensile strength were obtained. The growth rate of the dynamic tensile strength of the subsequent molds was larger than that of the cumulative energy, and thus the safety of the shaft lining gradually improved. The C65 concrete would therefore not experience tensile failure after the shaft lining has sustained multiple rounds of blasting loads. This finding can provide a basis for safety considerations when employing the freezing-blasting method to construct mining shafts in water-bearing bedrock.