Rock mass characterization using photoanalysis

Summary Rock formations are distinguished from each other by measuring first the properties of the intact rock, and second those of the jointing. Whereas simple methods are available for measuring intact rock properties, those available for measuring jointing remain slow, expensive, and sometimes dangerous. Digitized photographs (photoanalysis) may provide a solution. In this paper, the new techniques of photoanalysis are reviewed together with applications, promising areas for research, and also some obstacles that remain to be overcome. Aspects of the rock mass that lend themselves to photoanalytical measurement include those of individual joints, such as persistence, orientation and roughness, and those relating to the mass as a whole, such as block size and the spacing or intensity of jointing. Photoanalysis can also be applied to measurement of blasting. It allows characterization of the rock about to be blasted, helping the engineer to predict fragmentation and to design an appropriate blasting pattern. Afterwards, the same methods can be used to measure fragmentation, overbreak and backbreak, for quality control and for diagnosis of problems.Presented at the 28th US ROck Mechanics Symposium, Tucson, Arizon, 29 June–1 July 1987.     

Blast overbreak measurement by light sectioning

Summary In this new method for measuring the cross-section of tunnels and other excavations, the opening is outlined by a plane of light projected from a conical mirror. The image is recorded on videotape, enhanced, then measured by microcomputer. The measured profile is compared automatically with the specified profile to give values for overbreak and underbreak.Trials in Mexican tunnels and at an underground mine in Canada have evaluated the technique in relation to traditional mechanical, photographic, and surveying alternatives. Results indicate that the light sectioning method requires less than a minute per profile and no surveying skills. Costs are low, and the measurements are accurate to within a centimetre or two. Using the same photoanalysis technique and software, rock quality can be measured at the same time and place as overbreak, which helps the engineer to decide whether overbreak is caused by geological conditions or by deficiencies in blasting.