Dynamic Rupture, Fault Opening, and Near Fault Particle Motions along an Interface between Dissimilar Materials

TL;DR

This study uses a 2-D lattice particle model to numerically analyze dynamic rupture, fault opening, and near-fault particle motions along an interface between dissimilar elastic solids under shear loading.

Contribution

It introduces a novel 2-D lattice particle model to simulate dynamic rupture along dissimilar material interfaces considering elastic mismatch and normal stress variations.

Findings

Dynamic rupture propagation is influenced by elastic property mismatch.

Fault opening occurs along the interface during rupture.

Near-fault particle motions reveal complex stress interactions.

Abstract

Dynamic rupture propagation along an interface between two different elastic solids under shear dominated loading is studied numerically by a 2-D lattice particle model (LPM). The configuration of the lattice particle model consists of two solid blocks of different elastic properties connected along a planar interface. Each block is characterized as an isotropic elastic material and the interface strength is described as a composite elastic modulus of a mismatch function of the elastic properties of two dissimilar materials. The particle interaction between the two blocks with pair inter-particle potential also takes account of normal stress variations.