Study on Stick-slip Instability and Directionality on Bimaterial Faults

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-728-1_3How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Sticky-slip; Bimaterial Fault; Shear Sliding; Rupture Propagation; Rupture Mode

Abstract

Earthquakes have significant impacts on the environment and society. Most tectonic earthquakes result from relative sliding due to faults’ frictional instability. Among these, bimaterial faults, where different materials limit the fault interface, commonly exhibit rapid and unpredictable sticky sliding instability, leading to high levels of destruction. The asymmetric stress distribution in bimaterial fault systems results in complex failure modes, underscoring the significance of studying their failure mechanisms. This study, based on rock shear sliding experiments, explores the influence of bimaterial fault stick-slip instability by varying normal stress and shear loading rates to simulate ground stress and fault movement. Findings reveal an uneven stress field distribution during sticky slip instability, with a non-linear positive correlation between normal stress levels and stress drop between faults. Increasing normal stress enhances sliding weakening displacement. The directionality of rupture propagation during instability pertains to varied rupture modes and velocities across different directions. Notably, a critical transitional normal stress and loading rate exist between sticky sliding failure and smooth failure behavior.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Ao Lei
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/05/19
TI  - Study on Stick-slip Instability and Directionality on Bimaterial Faults
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Green Building, Civil Engineering and Smart City (GBCESC 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 16
EP  - 25
SN  - 2352-5401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-728-1_3
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-728-1_3
ID  - Lei2025
ER  -