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Modeling of Stick-Slip Behavior in Sheared Granular Fault Gouge Using the Combined Finite-Discrete Element Method

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JB015668· OSTI ID:1457309
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV (United States). Dept. of Physics
  3. Swiss Federal Inst. of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) (Switzerland). Dept. of Mechanical and Process Engineering
+ Show Author Affiliations
Sheared granular layers undergoing stick-slip behavior are broadly employed to study the physics and dynamics of earthquakes. In this paper, a two-dimensional implementation of the combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM), which merges the finite element method (FEM) and the discrete element method (DEM), is used to explicitly simulate a sheared granular fault system including both gouge and plate, and to investigate the influence of different normal loads on seismic moment, macroscopic friction coefficient, kinetic energy, gouge layer thickness, and recurrence time between slips. In the FDEM model, the deformation of plates and particles is simulated using the FEM formulation while particle-particle and particle-plate interactions are modeled using DEM-derived techniques. The simulated seismic moment distributions are generally consistent with those obtained from the laboratory experiments. In addition, the simulation results demonstrate that with increasing normal load, (i) the kinetic energy of the granular fault system increases; (ii) the gouge layer thickness shows a decreasing trend; and (iii) the macroscopic friction coefficient does not experience much change. Analyses of the slip events reveal that, as the normal load increases, more slip events with large kinetic energy release and longer recurrence time occur, and the magnitude of gouge layer thickness decrease also tends to be larger; while the macroscopic friction coefficient drop decreases. Finally, the simulations not only reveal the influence of normal loads on the dynamics of sheared granular fault gouge, but also demonstrate the capabilities of FDEM for studying stick-slip dynamic behavior of granular fault systems.
Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
LANL Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1457309
Report Number(s):
LA-UR--18-20365
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 123; ISSN 2169-9313
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (5)

Parallelized combined finite‐discrete element (FDEM) procedure using multi‐GPU with CUDA
  • Liu, Quansheng; Wang, Weiqin; Ma, Hao
  • International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Vol. 44, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/nag.3011
journal December 2019
Numerical analysis of flyer plate experiments in granite via the combined finite–discrete element method journal November 2019
Precursory Stress Changes and Fault Dilation Lead to Fault Rupture: Insights From Discrete Element Simulations journal March 2019
Ensemble Shear Strength, Stability, and Permeability of Mixed Mineralogy Fault Gouge Recovered From 3D Granular Models journal January 2019
From Stress Chains to Acoustic Emission journal July 2019

Figures / Tables (13)

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Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
Earthquake
FDEM
Fault gouge
Granular material
Stick-slip