At the 2nd International Scientific Conference "Physical Problems of Rock Fracture" it is appropriate to note the great role of scientists from the St. Petersburg Mining Institute (A.N. Khanukaev, V.N. Borovikov, etc.) in studies of wave parameters of explosive loading of rocks. The successes achieved in the study of blast waves substantiated the expectation that "the development of engineering methods of explosion energy control should be based mainly on the management of these wave parameters" (V.N.Mosinets, 1976). However, the mechanism of rock deformations and fractures could not be unambiguously substantiated by the parameters of explosion waves. Wave theory gave a good idea of the primary effect of the explosion, in acoustic approximation allowed to approach the solution of many problems, but did not find application to determine the main parameters of charges in the practice of blasting.
