Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference 2025 (RIC 2025)

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Effect of Blast Vibration on Open Pit Slope Stability by Limit Equilibrium

Authors
Thiago Cruz Bretas1, *, Zharry Bueno2, Lucas Guimarães de Carvalho3, Gabriel Cabral4
1Geotechnical Engineer, Director at TBretas Consultoria, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
2Master Candidate, UnB University of Brasilia, Brasilia, DF, Brazil
3Geotechnical Engineer, Rocscience, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
4Geotechnical Engineer, TBretas Consultoria, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
*Corresponding author. Email: tbretas@tbretas.com
Corresponding Author
Thiago Cruz Bretas
Available Online 7 December 2025.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_3How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Blast; stability; open pit
Abstract

During mining operations in open pits, evaluating the effect of vibrations induced by blasting is crucial in determining the safety condition, in relation to the slope’s stability. Blasting can involve varied charges weights and their effects on the slopes depend on the distance from blasting region, due to vibration’s attenuation. The evaluation of these effects should ideally be carried out through dynamic analysis, using finite elements, for example, and acceptance criteria depend on the admissible displacements for each case. The use of pseudo-static stability analyzes also may not be the best alternative in evaluating the effect of vibrations induced by blasting. However, for the purpose of verifying stability by limit equilibrium, in a more simplistic way, blasting vibration spectrum can be inserted in Slide2 and the displacements estimated using the Newmark methodology. In this case study, the effects of vibrations induced by blasting in an iron ore open-pit, located in Minas Gerais, Brazil, will be evaluated. Several vibrations recorded by seismographs were evaluated and the respective displacements to determine the safety condition of adjacent slopes. Through this study, it was possible to identify the most critical regions and the maximum charges weights to be used in future blasting so that damage to slopes is within acceptable criteria for safe operation.

Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference 2025 (RIC 2025)
Series
Atlantis Highlights in Engineering
Publication Date
7 December 2025
ISBN
978-94-6463-900-1
ISSN
2589-4943
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_3How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Thiago Cruz Bretas
AU  - Zharry Bueno
AU  - Lucas Guimarães de Carvalho
AU  - Gabriel Cabral
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/07
TI  - Effect of Blast Vibration on Open Pit Slope Stability by Limit Equilibrium
BT  - Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference 2025 (RIC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 18
EP  - 27
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_3
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_3
ID  - Bretas2025
ER  -