Damage Characteristics of Rock Mass Under Cutting Blasting in Sharp Inclined Narrow Vein Mines

In the drift mining of sharp, inclined, narrow veins, the efficacy of cutting blasting directly governs the efficiency of blasting operations. However, the mechanisms of rock mass damage and fracturing induced by cutting blasting in sharp inclined narrow vein mines remain inadequately understood. This study employs a 3D numerical model of cutting blasting calibrated with field test data to analyze the damage and fracture processes of rock mass under cutting blasting in sharp inclined narrow vein mines. A parametric study further examines the effects of vein thickness and in situ stress on blast-induced damage and fracturing of a rock mass. The results show that cutting blasting produces a significantly asymmetric damage distribution in sharp, inclined, narrow vein mines. Under conditions of small vein thickness, the propagation of damage along the vein–rock interface increases, and the clamping effect on the rock in the cutting blasting zone intensifies. Additionally, high bidirectional equal in situ stress substantially suppresses blast-induced damage development, with the suppression intensity showing a positive correlation to in situ stress magnitude. The findings provide a theoretical basis for cutting blasting design in the drift mining of sharp inclined narrow veins.