Experimental study of the interaction of directional crack and open joint in slit charge blasting

To explore the interaction between directional crack and open joint in slit charge blasting, a dynamic caustics method and high-speed photography technology were used to carry out the blasting model experiment. In the model experiment, the polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) was used as the specimen material, the lead azide (Pb(N₃)₂) was used as the explosive, and a 3D printed resin material was used as the slit tube. Additionally, varying shapes of the open joint were prefabricated in the specimen. The failure mode of the specimen was described in detail, the initiation and propagation process of the wing crack at two ends of the joint was also analyzed. Research results show that the open joint has a retarding effect on the propagation of the directional crack in slit charge blasting. The directional crack will not continue to propagate through the open joint, but it will produce two wing cracks at the ends of the joint after interacting with the joint. When the directional crack is incident perpendicular to the open joint, the stress state at both the ends of the joint and the initiation and propagation behavior of the two wing cracks are the same, and the distribution state of the two wing cracks is symmetric. The geometric characteristics of the open joint have a significant impact on the dynamic stress intensity factor when the wing crack is initiated. Moreover, it determines the difficulty of the wing crack initiation to some extent. When the directional crack is incident obliquely, the stress state of the two ends of the joint is different. The end, which is close to the incident point of the directional crack, exhibits more crack initiation energy so that the crack is initiated and propagated preferentially and a longer wing crack is formed.