Fracture in Westerly Granite under AE Feedback and Constant Strain Rate Loading: Nucleation, Quasi-static Propagation, and the Transition to Unstable Fracture Propagation

New observations of fracture nucleation are presented from three triaxial compression experiments on intact samples of Westerly granite, using Acoustic Emission (AE) monitoring. By conducting the tests under different loading conditions, the fracture process is demonstrated for quasi-static fracture (under AE Feedback load), a slowly developing unstable fracture (loaded at a `slow' constant strain rate of 2.5 × 10<sup>−6</sup> /s) and an unstable fracture that develops near instantaneously (loaded at a `fast' constant strain rate of 5 × 10⁻⁵ /s). By recording a continuous ultrasonic waveform during the critical period of fracture, the entire AE catalogue can be captured and the exact time of fracture defined. Under constant strain loading, three stages are observed: (1) An initial nucleation or stable growth phase at a rate of ~ 1.3 mm/s, (2) a sudden increase to a constant or slowly accelerating propagation speed of ~ 18 mm/s, and (3) unstable, accelerating propagation. In the ~ 100 ms before rupture, the high level of AE activity (as seen on the continuous record) prevented the location of discrete AE events. A lower bound estimate of the average propagation velocity (using the time-to-rupture and the existing fracture length) suggests values of a few m/s. However from a low gain acoustic record, we infer that in the final few ms, the fracture propagation speed increased to 175 m/s. These results demonstrate similarities between fracture nucleation in intact rock and the nucleation of dynamic instabilities in stick slip experiments. It is suggested that the ability to constrain the size of an evolving fracture provides a crucial tool in further understanding the controls on fracture nucleation.     

长岭山北麓断裂上新发现的地震地表破裂带

通过野外地震地质调查,在甘肃省古浪县、景泰县交界处的长岭山地区新发现了丰富的线状分布的地震地表破裂现象,表现为基岩崩塌、黄土滑坡、地震裂缝、地震土林、地震沟槽、陷落坑以及断层陡坎等,局部可见残留的破裂滑动自由面。其分布严格受长岭山北麓活动断裂控制。通过地震地表破裂带本身的特征分析、年代学分析、地表破裂带长度与震级的拟合关系以及结合区域活动断裂资料研究,认为该地震地表破裂带可能为1927年古浪8.0级地震的产物。     

Kinetics of bubble collision and attachment to hydrophobic solids: I. Effect of surface roughness

Influence of surface roughness of the Teflon plates on kinetics of the bubble attachment was studied. Phenomena occurring during collisions of the air bubble, rising in clean water, with Teflon plates, differing only in their surface roughness, were recorded and analysed using a high-speed camera. Variations of the local velocity of the bubble during the collisions and the time of the bubble attachment were determined. It was found that the Teflon surface roughness was the parameter of a crucial importance for the attachment time of the colliding bubble. Depending on degree of the surface roughness the time of the attachment varied by over order of magnitude (from 3 to over 80 ms). In the case the Teflon surfaces having roughness below 1 μm there were recorded four to five “approach–bounce” cycles prior to the bubble attachment. Moreover, after the first collision the rapid pulsations of the bubble shape (within fraction of millisecond) were recorded. For surfaces of roughness ca. 50 μm and larger the attachment always occurred during the first collision—there was no bouncing observed and the time of the attachment was below 3 ms. It was documented that presence of a micro-bubble at the surface facilitated attachment of the colliding bubble.     

构造环境应力场在确定新疆地震危险区中的应用

基于断裂力学的研究成果和位错论,提出了断裂力学地震破裂模式,进而推导出了几个从地震波观测资料直接计算震源处构造环境剪力场量值ｒ０的公式。根据这些公式计算了中国地区中小地震的构造环境剪应力值。结果表明：ｒ０值的大小与分布和大震发生的地点有密切关系,即剪应力水平较高的地区将容易发生大地震,而剪应力水平较低的地区通常只发生小地震。据此,从１９９２年开始,根据环境应力场进行寻找地震危险区的尝试总有效北达７     

走滑活动断裂的障碍体与地震破裂的关系

系统收集了中国大陆走滑活动断裂带上障碍体（阶区）与地震破裂的资料,探讨了障碍体止裂尺度与地震破裂的关系及其分段意义。统计分析表明,走滑活动断裂带上地震的震级与障碍体的阶距、阶距与次级段长度具有较好的线性关系。障碍体的阶距可以作为判定地震破裂止裂尺度的极重要标志,是进行破裂分段的前提和基础。     

Discrete modelling of time‐dependent rockfill behaviour

This modelling study deals with the time‐dependent behaviour of rockfill media, which is of particular interest during the life of rockfill dams. Breakage of rock blocks and crack propagation are the main processes responsible for rockfill creep and collapse. The modelling procedure presented here is performed on two scales: on the rock block scale, where the grain is taken to be an assembly of rigid particles initially endowed with cohesive bonds, and on the rockfill scale, which is taken to involve a set of breakable grains interacting via contact and friction processes. The grain breakage process is described in term of a thermodynamically consistent damage interface model, where the damage is a gradual delayed process. This model was implemented in a non‐smooth contact dynamics code. The effects of the main parameters involved were analysed by performing numerical studies. The ability of the model to predict the creep behaviour of rockfill media is confirmed by presenting several simulations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

汶川地震地表破裂面形貌特征

准确描述破裂面形貌对于我们理解地震断层作用是非常重要的,破裂面的形貌特征包含许多关于地震和断层机制的有用信息。在Mw7.9 2008汶川地震中断层活动产生了两个新鲜的破裂面,八角庙破裂面和沙坝破裂面。我们使用3D便携式激光扫描仪(Tri mble GX)对两个破裂表面进行测量,在野外微观尺度上研究了破裂面形貌特征。通过能谱密度和均方值两个方法分析破裂面形貌,新鲜的破裂面表现为自相仿性,能谱密度和均方值均与剖面长度存在幂律关系。在能谱密度与空间频率的对数图中,能谱密度曲线存在明显的拐点,该拐点所对应的波长称为"特征波长",表明单一分形不能准确描述破裂面形貌。八角庙破裂面在平行滑动方向上的特征波长为7 mm,在垂直方向上特征波长略大一些(区域Ⅰ为10 mm,区域Ⅱ为9 mm);沙坝破裂面在平行滑动方向上的特征波长为8 mm,但垂直方向上特征波长略小(6 mm)。均方值曲线的最小二乘拟合直线的斜率为Hurst指数,该指数依赖于剖面线方向并描述破裂面形貌的各向异性,H指数的最小值和最大值分别与平行擦痕和垂直擦痕方向对应,这与野外断层面擦痕测量结果一致。沙坝破裂面的H指数极坐标图中存在次级H指数峰值(对应剖面线方向为85°和160°),这揭示破裂面上存在一组隐匿擦痕。该组隐匿擦痕为汶川地震之前断层活动中形成的,但这还不足以推测上一次断层活动的时间和规模。另外,通过比较新鲜节理面和破裂面表明H指数是否大于0.8反映了断层类型。在整个空间频率域上,能谱密度曲线斜率(-α)和均方值曲线斜率(H)的线性拟合关系为α=1.22+1.72H,并不严格满足两者之间理论关系式,α=1+2H。这个差异是由于测量信号噪音、破裂面的多分形性和分析方法的差异造成的。     

皖南某高速公路强风化千枚质板岩边坡变形特征及稳定性分析

以皖南地区某强烈变形的强风化千枚质板岩边坡为例,通过对其工程地质条件的调查,结合边坡岩体结构类型和结构面组合特征,对其变形破坏特征及稳定性进行了分析和评价。研究结果表明,边坡的变形受坡内软弱岩体(挤压破碎带)控制,剪应力的集中易使坡体产生圆弧形滑动,据此定量评价边坡的稳定性,提出合理的支护方案,减小地质灾害发生的可能。     

现有孕震模式的研究及其修正

在国内外现行的主要孕震模式的基础上，得出了一个较为合理的详细阐述孕震过程的模式。该模式由（Ⅰ）弹性变形、（Ⅱ）扩容、（Ⅲ）前兆蠕动、（Ⅳ）地震、（Ⅴ）震后调整等阶段组成，主要强调液体（水）存在；发生大小地震的断层均由积累单元和调整单元组成，余震是大震后构造剪切应力重新调整以及主断层未破裂区和位于它两侧尺度小、长度短的断层未破裂区共同破裂的结果。最后，运用断裂力学理论对该模式的孕震过程进行了比较圆满的解释。     

基于QSSP的震源破裂过程反演方法

在Qt平台上,基于QSSP软件,利用C⁺⁺进行地震破裂过程反演方法研究。采用按阶段反演的方法,第1阶段反演采用热浴算法进行全局搜索,先按断层区域的构造背景等初始条件对参数范围进行划取,在该范围内随机给定一组初始值开始迭代,使波形初步拟合避开局部最优解;第2阶段反演使用拟牛顿法进行快速收敛,提高波形拟合程度,迭代至目标函数小于误差条件时停止,输出满足误差条件的待解模型参数。为避免模型参数出现病态问题,使用拉普拉斯方程建立平滑矩阵并引入平滑因子对断层模型进行平滑约束。使用棋盘模型验证该方法的稳定性和可靠性。最后,将全国13个台站的重力数据积分后对2013-04-20芦山7.0级地震的破裂过程进行反演,并与其他研究结论进行对比分析。