Environment
Jalil Hanifehnia; Akbar Esmaeilzadeh; Solat Atalou; Reza Mikaeil
Abstract
Blasting is a crucial technique in mining for rock fragmentation, but it can lead to environmental impacts like vibrations, flyrock, and backbreak. Accurately predicting and controlling these effects is essential for improving safety and minimizing damage to equipment and infrastructure. This research ...
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Blasting is a crucial technique in mining for rock fragmentation, but it can lead to environmental impacts like vibrations, flyrock, and backbreak. Accurately predicting and controlling these effects is essential for improving safety and minimizing damage to equipment and infrastructure. This research aims to predict flyrock distances (FR) at the Sungun Copper Mine through the application of artificial intelligence (AI) models in conjunction with statistical approaches. Initially, a linear multivariate regression (LMR) model was constructed to establish the correlation between blasting parameters and flyrock range. Subsequently, an artificial neural network based on a multilayer perceptron (ANN-MLP) was developed and further optimized using two advanced hybrid algorithms: the Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO). These algorithms were employed to calibrate the neural network’s weights and biases using variables such as number of blast holes, hole spacing, burden, total charge, specific drilling, charge per hole, and specific charge. Results showed that the ANN‑MLP model outperformed the LMR model, with performance metrics of root mean square error (RMSE = 9.31 m), mean absolute error (MAE = 7.10 m), and coefficient of determination (R² = 0.81) during the test phase. However, optimization of the ANN model with ICA and ACO significantly improved prediction accuracy. Among the hybrid models, the ICA-ANN model performed best with RMSE = 5.66 m, MAE = 4.60 m, and R² = 0.89, showing a considerable improvement over the LMR and ANN-MLP models. Sensitivity analysis further highlighted total charge and number of holes as the most influential parameters affecting flyrock dispersion. Overall, the findings underscore the potential of hybrid AI frameworks in advancing predictive modeling for safer and more efficient blasting operations.
Exploitation
Taiwo Blessing Oamide; Adebayo Babatunde; Toluwase Daniel Olaiya
Abstract
This study developed and assessed several artificial intelligence (AI) models for predicting blast-induced toe volume in small-scale dolomite mines located in the Akoko Edo Local Government Area, Edo State, Nigeria. Seven predictive models were constructed: Adaptive Boosting (AdaBoost), Random Forest ...
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This study developed and assessed several artificial intelligence (AI) models for predicting blast-induced toe volume in small-scale dolomite mines located in the Akoko Edo Local Government Area, Edo State, Nigeria. Seven predictive models were constructed: Adaptive Boosting (AdaBoost), Random Forest (RF), Gaussian Process Regression (GPR), Support Vector Regression (SVR), a conventional Artificial Neural Network (ANN), and two Imperialist Competitive Algorithm-optimized ANNs (ICA-ANNs). The models were trained using eight input parameters including uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), spacing (S), burden (B), sub-drill (SB), drill hole length (DHL), stiffness ratio (SR), maximum instantaneous charge (MIC), and powder factor (K) with blast toe volume (TV) as the target output. Input data were collected through a combination of field measurements and laboratory analyses. Among all the models evaluated, the ICA-ANN with an 8-7-1 architecture achieved the highest predictive accuracy. It outperformed AdaBoost by 9.17%, SVR by 7.20%, GPR by 5.56%, RF by 4.75%, a standard ANN (8-5-1) by 0.78%, and a standard ANN (8-7-1) by 0.28%, based on mean squared error (MSE) and coefficient of determination (R²) metrics. Furthermore, the ICA-ANN model was applied to optimize blast design parameters. The optimal values obtained were: spacing = 1.0 m, burden = 0.8 m, sub-drill = 0.6 m, MIC = 0.72 kg, and powder factor = 0.65 kg/m³. These optimized parameters reduced the blast toe volume by 20.05%, from 209.50 m³ to 154.87 m³. The results highlight the robustness and efficiency of the ICA-ANN model for blast design optimization. By improving fragmentation quality and minimizing residual toe volume, the approach offers a practical pathway for enhancing both productivity and cost-effectiveness in small-scale mining operations.
J. Shakeri; H. Amini Khoshalan; H. Dehghani; M. Bascompta; K. Onyelowe
Abstract
In this research work, a comprehensive study is conducted to predict flyrock as a typical and undesirable phenomenon occurring during the blasting operation in open-pit mining. Despite the availability of several empirical methods for predicting the flyrock distance, the complexity of flyrock analysis ...
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In this research work, a comprehensive study is conducted to predict flyrock as a typical and undesirable phenomenon occurring during the blasting operation in open-pit mining. Despite the availability of several empirical methods for predicting the flyrock distance, the complexity of flyrock analysis has resulted in the low performance of these models. Therefore, the statistical and robust artificial intelligence techniques are applied for flyrock prediction in the Sungun copper mine in Iran. For this purpose, the linear multivariate regression (LMR), imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA), adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), and artificial neural network (ANN) methods are applied to predict flyrock with effective parameters including the blasthole diameter, stemming, burden, powder factor, and maximum charge per delay. According to the attained results, the ANN model with the structure of 5-8-1, Levenberg-Marquardt as the learning algorithm, and log-sigmoid (logsig) as the transfer functions are selected as the optimal network with the RMSE and R2 values of 5.04 m and 95.6% to predict flyrock, respectively. Also it can be concluded that the ICA technique has a relatively high capability in predicting flyrock, with the LMR and ANFIS models placed in the next. Finally, the sensitivity analysis reveal that the powder factor and blasthole diameters have the most importance on the flyrock distance in the present work.
Rock Mechanics
Seyed S. Mousavi; M. Nikkhah; Sh. Zare
Abstract
In this work, we tried to automatically optimize the cost of the concrete segmental lining used as a support system in the case study of Mashhad Urban Railway Line 2 located in NE Iran. Two meta-heuristic optimization methods including particle swarm optimization (PSO) and imperialist competitive algorithm ...
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In this work, we tried to automatically optimize the cost of the concrete segmental lining used as a support system in the case study of Mashhad Urban Railway Line 2 located in NE Iran. Two meta-heuristic optimization methods including particle swarm optimization (PSO) and imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA) were presented. The penalty function was used for unfeasible solutions, and the segmental lining structure was defined by nine design variables: the geometrical parameters of the lining cross-section, the reinforced feature parameters, and the dowel feature parameters used among the joints to connect the segment pieces. Furthermore, the design constrains were implemented in accordance with the American Concrete Institute code (ACI318M-08) and guidelines of lining design proposed by the International Tunnel Association (ITA). The objective function consisted of the total cost of structure preparation and implementation. Consequently, the optimum design of the system was analyzed using the PSO and ICA algorithms. The results obtained showed that the objective function of the support system by the PSO and ICA algorithms reduced 12.6% and 14% per meter, respectively.
