Detonation pressure is the borehole pressure at the beginning of explosive detonation front.  This transient pressure is responsible for fracturing and crushing the rock around the borehole which is referred to as "brisance".  Detonation pressure is important for fragmentation design.  In hard, massive rock formations, it is better to use an explosive with a high detonation pressure for fracturing the rock, and a lower detonation pressure explosive in softer and more fractured rock masses.

The detonation pressure can be calculated using the formula below:

P = 0.25 x r x D² x 10^-6

where,

P = Detonation Pressure (GPa)

r = Explosive density (g/cc)

D = Velocity of Detonation (m/s)