The Digital Simulation of Blasts: A Major Challenge for Mines in the 21st Century

Digital simulation is becoming an essential tool for engineering complex industrial projects due to its rapid implementation and low cost, when compared with in situ experiments. Paradoxically, it is little used in the blasting industry, despite its origin dating back to the Manhattan project, with the modelling of the nuclear detonation process.Taming such a fiery customer as explosives and being freed of the complexity of the rock, this is what the digital simulation of a blast has to offer operators. With the help of case studies, we can explore the direct benefits for the operator on his site; both from economic and safety as well as environmental standpoints. The present paper also provides an update of previous simulation techniques for blasts, the state of the art of technology with more recent methods, as well as expected future developments.