2354 The blast induced noise and ground vibration structural and human response: A case for the South African mud house homes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17159/Abstract
Mud houses are common structure found in most South African rural homes closer to the mining operations. Full time dwellers in these properties are often elders. The mine codes of practice and the South African legislative instruments attempts to define the damage criteria to limit the effect of the blast induced noise and ground vibrations to different structures. All these assessment criteria are based on the Peak Particle Velocity (PPV) and noise generated during blasting. The South African safe limit criterion adopted is derived from the international standards which are then used as local guidelines. In this paper, the currently adopted safe limit criteria used in South Africa for a mud house are critically evaluated. A case study was performed on a residential house located near the coal mines based in Mpumalanga. Analysis of the data recorded during the study and literature review revealed that there are short comings in the currently adopted safe limit criteria. The current safe limit criteria focus on the general structural damage with little regard to human impact. A new approach is proposed, based on relating the safe limits to the structural and human response. It seeks to establish the nature and magnitude of the structural and human responses to blast induced noise and ground vibration. The structural and human response to blast induced noise and seismicity is then used to formulate the safe limit criterion that encompasses both structural and human impacts.
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