ABSTRACT
Drilling and blasting is still an economical and viable method for the excavation of rock mass in the fields of mining, hydropower and transportation. Rock masses are fragmented by blasting energy. However, it has been known that only 20-30% of the energy is used for the actual fragmentation, and the rest is wasted in the form of blasting vibration, air-over pressure, fly rock and noise (Singh & Singh 2005). Blasting vibration has a detrimental effect on structures such as buildings, dams, roads, natural slopes, etc. Also with emphasizing on ecofriendly activities, blasting vibration has become a major concern for the smooth running of a project (Khandelwal 2010). Thus, it is imperative to predict the vibration with greater accuracy prior to operations. A number of researchers have suggested different vibration predictors according to their own data obtained from different sites (Langefors & Kihlstrom 1963; Mesec et al. 2010; Liang et al. 2011). All these formulae have their specific site constants, and therefore, they cannot be used in a generalized way.
