Drill and Blast menu contents
Files
Use this option to define the drill rigs that are to be used in the Drill and Blast module. The drill rig definitions are stored in the Drill and Blast specification file (specifications.dab).
Use this option to enter explosives information into a library and to assign explosives attributes to individual holes. These attributes include the manufacturers of the explosive, the name of the explosive, costs, delays, etc. The explosives library definitions are stored in the Drill and Blast specification file (specifications.dab).
This option defines the specifications that are to be used in the Drill and Blast module. The resulting specifications will be saved in the Drill and Blast specifications file (specifications.dab), which will be stored in your current directory. This option can also be used to manage existing Drill and Blast specifications, that is, delete or edit existing specifications.
Use the Load option to load the contents of an existing Drill and Blast layer, that is, the layer containing the drill and blastholes that you want to view and/or edit.
Use the Remove option to remove the Drill and Blast layers that are currently loaded onscreen. The Remove option only removes the Drill and Blast layers from the screen. To delete a layer from the design database, use the Design > Layer Edit > Delete option.
Create
Use this option to generate a general hole pattern in an existing polygon object.
Use the Create Holes At Points option to create a hole at each point contained in a nominated object. The object along which the holes are to be created must be loaded prior to using this option.
Use this option to create holes along a nominated line. The line along which the holes are to be created must be loaded prior to using this option.
Create Holes Along Collar and Toe
Create drillholes from two reference lines: The collar line and toe line. You can also display attributes, names of holes, drill rig, and loading style if desired.
Use the Create Blast to Free Face option to create a blast, in which the lines of drilling become progressively a closer approximation of the free face shape as the blast rows are drawn closer to the free face side of the blast. Burden values from multiple row definitions in the nominated specification may be applied to the initial rows. Alternatively, the last row definition of the specification will be used to create all rows as free-face rows. A boundary polygon defining the limit of the blast must be loaded into Vulcan prior to using this option. In both cases, the hole spacing along the rows will still be honoured per definition.
Use the Create Registered Outline option to create a registered outline around the body of a nominated blast. The resulting outline string, which is a half-burden wide, will be registered to the topography surface that was associated with the blast.
Use the Create Blast Solid option to create a triangulation solid from a loaded blast.
Use the Explosives Tie-ins option to tie in holes using explosives entered in the explosive library.
Use the Create Timing Model option to create a triangulation where the Z values of the points in the resulting model represent the initiation time (in milliseconds).
Note: In order to create a timing model you will need to have defined the explosive tie-ins prior to selecting the Create Timing Model option.
Use the Create Timing Animation option to create an animation that mimics an explosives sequence. The resulting animation will be stored in an animation sequence file (.anim_seq), which will placed in your current working directory.
Edit
Use the Rename Blast option to rename a loaded blast.
Use the Edit Visibility option to make a selected blast invisible.
Use the Edit Display Attributes option to modify the display attribute settings for the currently loaded Drill and Blast holes. Through this option you will be able to control attributes, such as collar and downhole annotations, hole colours etc.
Use this option to apply a display characteristics specification to selected blast data.
Use the Split Blast by Polygon option to create new blasts from an existing blast and a set of boundary polygons. For every boundary polygon, a new blast will be created containing holes that are enclosed by the polygon. The original blast is not modified.
Use the Merge Blasts option to combine two separate blast programs into a single blast. Load both blasts prior to using this option.
Use the Edit Holes option to edit the attributes of existing Drill and Blast holes.
Use the Rename Holes option to rename existing Drill and Blast holes. You have the ability to rename single holes, all holes contained in a nominated row, as well as all holes located in a chosen blast.
Use the Rename Holes option to rename existing Drill and Blast holes. You have the ability to rename single holes, all holes contained in a nominated row, as well as all holes located in a chosen blast.
Use this option to modify the name of existing Drill and Blast holes with a prefix and/or suffix. You have the ability to modify the name of single holes, all holes contained in a nominated row, all holes contained in a nominated echelon, as well as all holes located in a chosen blast.
Use the Reverse Row Direction option to reverse the row direction of a nominated blast. All of the holes in the nominated blast that have been assigned a name based on position will also be renamed.
Use the Recalculate option to recalculate the collars and intercepts for selected holes. This option should be used when the surface triangulation has changed since the initial design and the holes that use the surface need updating.
Use the Move Holes option to reposition selected holes by interactively moving them across the screen. If you require an accurate transformation, then we recommend that you use the Translate Holes option.
The Translate Holes option to move selected holes to a new position. Unlike the Move Holes option, which requires you to move holes across the screen, the Translate Holes option to specify the exact distance (in the X and/or Y direction) to move the hole.
Use the Rotate Holes option to quickly change the bearing of selected holes.
This tool permits adjustment of the burden before the blast to ensure there is sufficient to absorb the blast being applied. The actual burden around the holes is displayed, by comparing the blast design to a triangulation of the actual surrounding face. Dynamic adjustment of hole position, dip, bearing, depth etc. is permitted, and the face triangulation is colour-coded to indicate when each hole has been moved to an optimal position.
The Delete Holes option to delete individual holes. Use the Delete Holes by Polygon option to delete the holes that fall inside or outside a nominated polygon.
Use the Delete Holes by Polygon option to delete all holes that fall inside or outside a nominated polygon. You can either use an existing polygon, which needs to be loaded prior to selecting the Delete Holes by Polygon option, or you can interactively digitise one. Use the Delete Holes option to individually delete the holes.
Use the Insert Hole option to insert a new hole into an existing row of holes.
Use the Double Stitching option to insert holes into a nominated blast.
This option is designed to create an optional design charge intercept for drill and blast holes. The reason for this is that the Blast Logic software needs the down hole length to the design charge intercept to be exported with other blast hole information.
The option is found on the Drill and Blast menu. There is also an equivalent option on the right-click menu under Edit Hole/Charge Depth.
Analysis and Reporting
Use this option to build rules for selecting drill and blast holes by attributes. It allows selecting loaded holes using rules based on property fields. A hole needs to comply with all the enabled rules to be selected.
Use the Compare Holes option to compare the holes contained in one blast to the holes contained in another blast. Alternatively, you can also compare the holes against a collection of design objects.
The Offset to Face option reports on and displays information about the distance of blast holes to a face (as represented by a triangulation).
With the Offset to Face option, you can display and report the offset distance of a front row of blast holes to the blast face (specified by a triangulation). This is required by sites where blasting is a community issue. These sites often have to profile the face to be blasted and ensure blast holes do not come in a certain distance of this face. This would require the ability to move blast holes to match the tolerance required. Once the blast holes are drilled, the front holes are then surveyed down the hole and then displayed and reported again. This tool can be used by all drill and blast engineers against a face pickup to ensure optimal blasting.
Use the Export Intercepts option to export the hole information contained in a Drill and Blast layer. The exported data can either be converted and saved (as a point object) in a nominated Vulcan layer or it can be outputted to a nominated CSV file.
Sample Interval Specifications
Use the Sample Interval Specifications option to create a Sampling specification file (.hsn) or, if applicable, edit an existing one. The resulting specification file can then be used to create intervals in blast holes when exporting an existing blast pattern into a nominated Isis database. Refer to the Export to Database option for more information on exporting existing blast patterns.
Use the Export to Database option to export an existing blast pattern into a nominated Isis database. The exported data can either be sent to a new database or appended to an existing database.
This option is used to indicate any holes in the blast which are not separated by at least a required minimum distance. The distance tolerance is checked only between the explosive-charged parts of the holes for combinations of pairs of holes in the blast. Where the specified tolerance for separation distance is compromised a line marker is drawn at the MINIMUM SEPARATION position between two holes. If the holes are parallel and alongside (similar RLs), the marker will be drawn at the highest perpendicular position of separation - typically this will be at the base of stemming for one or both of the holes.
This option is used to report the variance in the area of influence for holes in a blast pattern.
Use the Reporting option to generate a Drill and Blast report. The resulting report, which can either be outputted to a CSV file or a column formatted ASCII file, can be viewed through the Report Window, a text editor or the Microsoft Excel application.
Use the Tritronics Export option to export blast information to a nominated Tritronics mapfile (map). The resulting file can be used with Tritronics equipped holes.
The Posting option produces a summary of selected holes as a text object for posting on the screen for plotting.
Use this option to export a blast to an IREDES format. IREDES (International Rock Excavation Data Exchange Standard) is an industry standard to streamline data exchange between mine automation systems.
