ABSTRACT
Research in the measurement of blast fragmentation has to date focused on fragment size almost exclusively, with relatively few shape measurements. However, fragment shape often conveys useful information, for example slabby rock is often the prime cause of drawpoint blockages and increased costs in loading, secondary breakage and crushing. Most size estimation assumes spherical or at least roughly equidimensional fragments, so that shape measurements can allow corrections and improvements in the accuracy of size estimates. Once fragment edges have been identified by photoanalysis, it is a relatively simple matter to measure characteristics of fragment shape to supplement those of size distribution. Studies of fragment shape have been advanced to a considerable degree in geological applications, where sphericity and roundness are important measures of sediment abrasion during transportation by rivers or glacial ice. Fabric, the relative orientation of groups of particles, also has been investigated and measured by geologists. These and similar measures are likely to prove useful in quantifying sub-parallel alignment of blast muckpile fragments, as well as muckpile packing and density.
