The effects of structural setting on the azimuthal velocities of blast induced ground motion in perlite

A series of small scale explosive tests were performed during the spring of 1994 at a perlite mine located near Socorro, NM. The tests were designed to investigate the azimuthal or directional relationship between small scale geologic structures such as joints and the propagation of explosively induced ground motion. Three shots were initiated within a single borehole located at ground zero (gz) at depths varying from the deepest at 83 m (272 ft) to the shallowest at 10 m (32 ft). The intermediate shot was initiated at a depth of 63 m (208 ft). An array of three component velocity and acceleration transducers were placed in two concentric rings entirely surrounding the single shot hole at 150 and 300 azimuths as measured from ground zero. Data from the transducers was then used to determine the average propagation velocity of the blast vibration through the rock mass at the various azimuths. The rock mass was mapped to determine the prominent joint orientations (strike and dip) and the average propagation velocities were correlated with this geologic information. The data from these experiments shows that there is a correlation between the orientation of prominent joints and the average velocity of ground motion. It is theorized that this relationship is due to the relative path the ground wave follows when encountering a joint or structure within the rock mass. The more prominent structures allow the wave to follow along their strike thereby forming a sort of channel or path of least resistance and in turn increasing the propagation velocity. Secondary joints or structures may act in concert with more prominent features to form a network of channels along which the wave moves more freely than it may travel against the structure. The amplitudes of the ground motion was also shown to vary azimuthally with the direction of the most prominent structures