SMS Wales
Copyright © 2025 SMS Wales
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Office 01286 67 38 44
Copyright © 2025 SMS Wales
SMS Wales
Nxburst cartridges are designed as a safer alternative to
conventional explosives, and can be used in a wide variety of
construction, quarrying and demolition environments.
Download our brochure here
Applications include:
Oversize boulders on building sites,
roads and in gardens.
Mass rock removal for Shopping centres,
Industrial and other Civil projects
Trenches and pipelines
Underground garage extensions
Harbour deepening and other underwater rock removal
projects
Mining applications (various)
Many other rock and concrete breaking applications where
explosives are not permitted
They are much safer to use, transport and store.
Nxburst™ cartridges are classified as 1.4S
UN 0323 and UN0432
SMS Wales provide a full range of cartridge sizes and weights
as well as shot firing (initiation) equipment and drilling
equipment in order to meet the demands of most projects.
Nxburst™ Cartridges are the safe and easy way to break in-
situ rock, boulders and concrete that is in close proximity of
infrastructure or buildings.
With Nxburst™ cartridges fly rock is 100% controllable,
vibration, dust and noise are very low, and it only requires
localised clearance of equipment and personnel.
The Nxburst™ cartridge technology is based on a non-
detonating chemical compound enclosed in a cartridge which
reacts very quickly when ignited to produce high volumes of
harmless gas that mainly consists of nitrogen, carbon dioxide
and steam.
When the cartridge is sealed in a drill hole (by means of
stemming), the gas generated by the ignition of the propellant
enters into the micro fractures created from the percussion
drilling process and into natural fractures and planes of
weakness on the rock to produce a shearing of the rock or
concrete called splitting.
Nxburst™ cartridges are available in 13mm, 28mm, 34mm,
42mm and 60mm diameters.
There are four variations available:
Standard – ElectricNon-Electric (here we offer sequential firing
as well)
Underwater (electric and non-electric)
Self-Stemming (Single self-stemming for blind holes or double
self-stemming for blind and through holes)
The procedure to successfully use the product is as follows:
Drill the correct size hole for the cartridge you are using
Insert a cartridge to the bottom of the hole
Stem the hole with stone screening/aggregate
Clear the local area (50m) of people and equipment
Connect up and initiate the blast
There are no expensive initiation systems or special tools
required, just a serviceable shot-firer and a Nxburst™ Blasters
Certificate. It is fast, simple and most importantly, safe when
handled correctly.
Features:
Environmental Constraints for Rock breaking
The major environmental constraints which normally apply to
rock breaking in environmentally sensitive areas are air blast
over pressure, noise, ground vibration and fly rock.It is critical
to control these elements in environmentally sensitive areas
to prevent or minimise possible damage to people and
infrastructure.
Airblast Overpressure:
Air blast overpressure (pressure above atmosphere) is caused
by vibrations or compressional waves transmitted through air,
produced by the rapid expansion of explosive gasses and the
rapid movement of the rock, resulting in the sudden
displacement of the air surrounding the blast. Overpressure
levels produced by Nxburst cartridges are low when compared
to conventional explosives and of a shorter duration and
much less damaging frequency. This gives our cartridges a
major advantage over explosives in environmentally sensitive
areas.
Noise
Noise is the part of the air blast overpressure wave which falls
within the audible frequency region of the human ear and is a
nuisance factor, rather than a damaging influence. The high
frequency portion of the air pressure portion is not audible
but can cause structures such as windows in turn to respond
and produce secondary noise such as rattles. A well-stemmed
NxburstTM cartridge in granite will generally produce a noise
level of 80 – 85dBL at 50m from the hole, well within the safe
level of 128dB specified by the US Bureau of Mines. Noise
levels can be tempered by the use of conveyor belting, other
matting or ground cover to cover the holes being fired.
Ground Vibration
Ground vibrations from blasting can cause damage to buildings and infrastructure which are in the close vicinity of the blast. The degree of vibration induced damage caused by blasting is dependent on the magnitude, frequency and duration of the vibration. Nxburst cartridges have a vibration signature which is produced by the combination of high frequency vibration waves with low duration and low magnitude which enables them to be used in close proximity to vibration sensitive sites where conventional blasting is prohibited or impractical. A Nxburst cartridge’s specific vibration equation has been developed from monitored data collected from several rock breaking excavations in sensitive civil applications. This data has been collected by an independent group to reduce a practical graph which relates vibration levels (PPV) to charge weight and the distance from the shot at which the vibration is being measured. Ground vibration from our cartridges falls well within the maximum levels specified by the US Bureau of Mines. Flyrock Flyrock can be a very dangerous side effect of blasting. A Nxburst cartridge produces optimal pressurisation of the cartridge within the hole for a given burden and type of rock. The velocity and distance travelled by the dislodged rock are limited when using our cartridges by the characteristics of the pressure pulse of Nxburst cartridges. Controlled gas released from Nxburst cartridges at relatively low pressures results in a minimal quantity of low velocity fly rock which is generally contained within 20 – 50m of the rock breaking event. Flyrock is 100% controllable by covering the rock with sand or rubber mats.
