Abstract: To investigate the crack propagation behavior and fractal characteristics of rock blasting�generated cracks under confining pressure，the propagation laws of blasting-generated cracks under differ⁃ ent confining pressure loading conditions were studied. A simulation analysis model was established using the LS-DYNA numerical calculation software，and a MATLAB program was written based on the calcula⁃ tion principle of box-counting dimension to calculate the fractal dimension of the blasting-generated cracks. The results show that under unidirectional loading in the x-direction，crack propagation is promot⁃ ed，while crack propagation in the y-direction is inhibited. The inhibitory effect in the y-direction is great⁃ er than that in the x-direction. With the increase of confining pressure，the inhibitory effect in the y-direc⁃ tion of crack propagation weakens. Under the condition of unequal confining pressure in the x-direction and y-direction，crack propagation in the maximum and minimum principal stress directions is simultane⁃ ously inhibited，and the inhibitory effect in the minimum principal stress direction is greater than that in the maximum principal stress direction. With the increase of unidirectional stress，the inhibitory effect of crack propagation in the y-direction of the rock is enhanced.

Key words: crustal stress, explosive load, crack propagation behavior, fractal dimension