| Theodore von Kármán Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering |
Research Interests The Influence of Fault Bends on Rupture Growth CollaboratorS: J. Rice, Harvard; C. Rouseau, URI Earthquake ruptures are modeled as dynamically propagating shear cracks with the aim of gaining insight into the physical mechanisms governing their arrest or, otherwise, the often observed variations in rupture speeds. Fault bends, or forks, have been proposed as being a major cause for these variations. Following this line of reasoning, the existence of deviations from fault planarity is embraced as the main focus of this study. In this project asymmetric impact is used to generate shear loading and to propagate dynamic mode-II cracks along the bonded interfaces of two otherwise identical homogeneous constituents. Secondary planes inclined at various angles are also introduced to represent fault bends or kinks. High speed photography and dynamic photoelasticity are used to study the kinking phenomenon in real time.
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last
update:
05/31/2016