ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION Assessment of Ground Vibration and Plotting of Contour Map of Surface Mine Blasting V. Mohan • N. C. Dey Received: 2 August 2013 / Accepted: 10 February 2014 / Published online: 18 March 2014 Ó The Institution of Engineers (India) 2014 Abstract In recent days, due to increase in demand of coal and minerals, the use of explosives has increased much due to which many adverse impacts can be seen on the structures. This also deteriorates the surrounding environment. Out of various hazards of surface mine blasting ground vibration and air over-pressure are the most damaging ones. The peak particle velocities in respect of charge per delay and distances, play a very important role. Apart from assessment of ground vibration, plotting of contour map of PPVs seems to be very important for the mine operators. Keywords Ground vibration  Rock in situ  Peak particle velocity  Statues  Air over-pressure Introduction Drilling and blasting combination is still an economical and viable method for rock excavation and displacement in mining as well as in civil construction works. The ill effects of blasting, i.e. ground vibrations, air blasts, fly rocks, back breaks, noises, etc. are unavoidable and cannot be com- pletely eliminated but can be certainly minimized to a permissible level to avoid damage to the surrounding environment with the existing structures. Among all the ill effects, ground vibration is a major concern for the plan- ners, designers and environmentalists. A number of researchers have suggested various methods to minimize the ground vibration level during the blasting. Khandelwal [1] stated that ground vibrations induced by blasting are one of the fundamental problems in the mining industry and may cause severe damage to structures and plants near- by.The amount of chemical energy converted into mechanical energy to fragment and displace the rock mass is least and majority of it is exhausted in the form of ground vibration, air over pressure, fly rock, back break, noise etc. Mandal and Singh [2] stated that the process of rock frag- mentation involves both gaseous and shock wave energy action. At smaller burdens, the shock energy predominates whereas at higher burdens, the gaseous energy assumes higher significance. Ground vibration is directly related to the quantity of explosive used and the distance between blast face to monitoring point as well as geological and geotechnical conditions of the rock units in excavation area. Blast induced ground vibration is an impact from the use of explosives that has historically been an extremely difficult problem to effectively mitigate. There are many variables and site constants involved in the equation that when combined, result in the form of a complex vibration waveform generated by the confined detonation of an explosive charge. The application of proper field controls during all steps of the drilling and blasting operation will help to minimize the adverse impacts of ground vibrations, providing a well-designed blast plan. Bogunovic and Kecojevic [3] stated that the purpose of blasting operations is rock fragmentation. Blasting is a key component in the overall rock fragmentation system - the first element of the ore extraction process. It provides appropriate rock material granulation or size that is suitable for loading and trans- portation. However, in spite of the many advantages that explosives have, their usage may cause environmental problem such as ground vibration. The blast design would consider the proper hole diam- eter and pattern that would reflect the efficient utilization V. Mohan (&)  N. C. Dey Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, Howrah, West Bengal, India e-mail: vijayant245singh@gmail.com 123 J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. D (January–June 2014) 95(1):1–6 DOI 10.1007/s40033-014-0037-5