General manager
TBT / DNA-Blast Group
Thierry BERNARD has a master in mechanics and physics and a PhD in explosive and rock behavior. He has more than 30 years of experience in blasting engineering. He started out as a drill and blast manager with a quarry and construction group in France in early 1990. He became an international blasting consultant in 1992. Thierry was the founder of Delta Caps International, a pioneer in electronic detonator, and was a director of the electronic division of bme (South Africa) from 2003-07. Since 2007, he has been general manager of Thierry Bernard Technologie and the DNA-Blast group, a group of companies specialized in advanced blasting simulations that develop the I-Blast Software and the first Blast Digital Twin. Thierry BERNARD is the author of more than 30 technical international papers on drill & blast technics.
Blast Digital Twin to support sustainable mining
Combining control of technical, economic and environmental performances, the digital tools at our disposal today allow us to anticipate the result of a mine blast on a large number of parameters, and especially for environmental purpose and sustainable mining. A digital twin is a digital replica of an object, process, or system that can be used for a variety of purposes. The numerical simulation provides both the elements and the operating dynamics of the modeled system. In the case of a mine blast, it also integrates historical data from past use that it integrates into its numerical model to help simulate seismic, fragmentation and movement effects with unprecedented reliability. This disruptive technology has been put at the service of the VALE group in Brazil, as part of the reopening of mining sites whose blasting operations had been suspended since the Brumadinho tragedy in 2019. On top of that the technology allows to optimize the blast performances and the carbon footprint.