ABSTRACT
The energy released during a detonation and resultant fluid expansion process provides the power for rock fragmentation and heave during blasting processes. In attempting to model blasts, the explosive detonation process provides the energy source term and a portion of this energy is transferred to the rock mass as a pressure wave at the explosion products-rock interface. A proportion of this energy is released into the adjacent rock during the detonation process, though a somewhat larger fraction is involved during the adiabatic expansion from the high detonation pressure down, in principle, to atmospheric conditions.
