In view of the devastating outcomes of fires and explosions, it is imperative to research the dynamic responses of concrete structures at high temperatures. For this purpose, the effects of the strain rate and high temperatures on the dynamic tension behavior and energy characteristics of high-strength concrete were investigated in this paper. Dynamic tests were conducted on high-strength concrete after exposure to the temperatures of 200, 400, and 600 °C by utilizing a 74 mm diameter split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) apparatus. We found that the quasi-static and dynamic tensile strength of high-strength concrete gradually decreased and that the damage degree rose sharply with the rise of temperature. The dynamic tensile strength and specific energy absorption of high-strength concrete had a significant strain rate effect. The crack propagation law gradually changed from directly passing through the coarse aggregate to extending along the bonding surface between the coarse aggregate and the mortar matrix with the elevation of temperature. When designing the material ratio, materials with high-temperature resistance and high tensile strength should be added to strengthen the bond between the mortar and the aggregate and to change the failure mode of the structure to resist the softening effect of temperature.

Rock blasting during tunneling has shown that the rock failure in high in situ stress environments is different from that in low in situ stress conditions or with a shallow rock mass. In particular, the propagation direction of the main crack induced by blasting is greatly affected by the in situ stresses. In order to study the law of crack propagation in rock during blasting under the conditions of an initial in situ stress, a transparent material that conformed to the mechanical properties of hard rock was used to carry out a similar model rock blasting test, under a unidirectional load. The results show that initial stress has a great influence on the propagation number, length, and direction of the main radial cracks. The specific performances were as follows: under the action of an equal confining pressure load, the longest main radial crack in the model specimen propagated along the diagonal direction, and the number and length of the main radial cracks propagated decreased with the gradual increase of confining pressure stress; in addition, the diameter of the circumferential cracks also decreased with the increase of stress, and there was a negative correlation between them. In view of the phenomenon where the longest main radial crack propagated along the diagonal direction in the model test, a mechanical model was established in this study to explain this process. This is of practical significance for understanding the mechanism of rock fracture when blasting with high in situ stresses.

To study the particle size distribution and energy variation law of hard coal under a load, an impact compression test of hard coal specimens under different impact loading conditions was carried out using a Φ50 mm diameter Separate Hopkinson Press Bar (SHPB) test system. We implemented the theory of dynamic impact energy of rock to establish the calculation expression of hard coal impact crushing energy dissipation, and we established the Weibull distribution model of a crushing body to analyze the impact velocity in relation to the particle size distribution of hard coal crushing and crushing energy consumption. The results demonstrate that due to the different original states of the specimens, the damage to the specimens under static action is in the mode of conjugate plane shear damage, single bevel shear damage, and tensile damage. The damage process of the specimen under impact load loading is divided into three stages: elastic deformation, elastic–plastic deformation, and plastic softening, while the increase in the strain rate caused the peak stress of the specimen to increase. The Weibull distribution can characterize the impact crushing size distribution of hard coal specimens very well. The parameter of coal rock crushing degree is a power function that is influenced by the impact velocity; the greater the impact velocity, the higher the coal rock crushing degree, but the characteristic index of coal rock crushing fluctuates with the increase in impact velocity. As the impact velocity increases, the incident energy and reflected energy increase linearly, while the transmitted energy increases first and then decreases. The dissipation energy of coal rock crushing also increases linearly with the impact velocity. There is no obvious regular change between the energy dissipation rate of coal rock and impact velocity during impact damage, and the dissipated energy of macroscopic crushing only accounts for 10~20% of the incident energy; most of the energy is used for damping loss and damage loss.

Considering the low efficiency of cutting blasting in hard rock mine tunnels, a novel solution of increasing the charge diameter of the cutting holes was put forward. To investigate the influence of the charge diameter on the cutting blasting results, three different working conditions of Φ 32 mm, Φ 42 mm, and Φ 50 mm blasting holes combined with Φ 27 mm, Φ 35 mm, and Φ 45 mm cartridges, respectively, were taken as the investigation objects. At first, the theoretical destruction ranges of single cutting holes under the three different charge diameters were computed. The computed results showed that the destruction range of the cutting holes could be expanded by increasing the charge diameter, which would be beneficial to the destruction of the rock far away from the cutting holes in the cutting cavity. Subsequently, numerical simulations of cutting blasting under the three different charge diameters were performed to display the dynamic propagation process of the blasting stress wave. Importantly, the stress field intensity in the cutting cavity was enhanced significantly with the charge diameter. The stronger stress field intensities generated by the larger diameter charges were more conducive to breaking the rock in the cutting cavity into small fragments that were easy to be discarded. Ultimately, a hard rock vertical slope was used instead of the driving face to carry out the cutting blasting experiments, and the hole utilizations of the cutting blasting were 70.4%, 82.0%, and 94.0%, respectively, under the three different charge diameters, from small to large. The experimental results forcefully substantiated that a higher cutting blasting efficiency could be achieved by increasing the charge diameter of cutting holes in hard rock mine tunnels.

Before rock burst, coal, and gas outburst dynamic load, rock mass in geotechnical engineering has been an indifferent degree of damage. The dissipation energy of rock mass under dynamic load reflects the difficulty of rock breaking. In view of the energy dissipation of damaged rock mass under dynamic load, the cyclic loading and unloading test is carried out to make sandstone in different damage states, and the damage degree of sandstone is characterized by the change of longitudinal wave velocity before and after cyclic loading and unloading. Then, the rock with different damage degrees is tested by adopting the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB). Finally, the energy dissipation characteristics of damaged rock under impact load are analyzed. The results show that the damage factor of sandstone increases with the increase of the upper limit of stress after cyclic static loading. The dynamic strength and peak strain of damaged sandstone increase with the increase of impact pressure and decrease with the increase of damage degree. With the increase of damage degree of sandstone, the reflection energy and dissipation energy of sandstone increase, while the transmission energy decreases.

To acquire a satisfying cutting effect during medium-length hole blasting driving of rock tunnels, an improved wedge cutting blasting method with supplementary blasting of the center holes was proposed. Initially, the cavity forming mechanism of the improved cutting method was analyzed theoretically. The results suggested that cutting hole blasting could realize the ejection of rock within the range from free face to critical cutting depth, and hence reduce the restraining force of the center hole blasting, and the supplementary blasting of the center holes could further accomplish the expulsion of the residuary rock. Subsequently, simulation of the improved cutting method was implemented to exhibit the stress wave evolution and reveal the stress field distribution. The simulation results indicated that cutting hole blasting could cause the preliminary failure of the residuary rock, and center hole blasting could strengthen the stress field intensity in 1.8–2.5 m in order to aggravate the destruction of the residuary rock. Hence, the residuary rock could be broken into small fragments that were easy to expel out. Finally, a field application experiment was conducted in a coal mine rock tunnel. Using the improved wedge cutting method instead of the conventional wedge cutting method, the full-face blasting driving efficiency was obviously enhanced and the overall blasting driving expense was significantly reduced, which forcefully confirmed the engineering usefulness of the improved wedge cutting method in the medium-length hole blasting driving of rock tunnels.