Shear behaviour of fractured rock as a function of size and shear displacement

This paper presents laboratory results regarding the shear behaviour of an artificial tensile fracture generated in granite. We used a direct shear rig to test fractures of different sizes (from 100 mm to 200 mm) under various shear displacements up to 20 mm and cyclic shear stresses with constant normal stress of 10 MPa. To determine the evolution of surface damage and aperture during shear, cyclic loading was performed at designated shear displacements. These changes in the surfaces topography were measured with a laser profilometer ‘non-contact surface profile measurement system’. In addition, changes were also measured directly by using pressure-sensitive film.

The results showed that the standard deviation (SD) of the initial aperture of the sheared fracture significantly increases with both shear displacement and size, which result in an increase in the non-linearity of the closure curve (since the matedness of the fracture surfaces decreases with shear displacement). Therefore, we concluded that shear dilation is not only governed by the surfaces sliding over each other, but is also strongly influenced by the non-linearity of closure with shear displacement. Furthermore, while the shear stiffness of the fracture during the initial stage decreases with fracture size, it increases with fracture size in the residual stage. This can be attributed to the fact that only small asperities with short wavelengths were mainly damaged by shearing. Moreover the result showed that the damaged zones enlarge and localise with shear displacement, and eventually tend to form perpendicular to the shear displacement.     

The characteristic displacement in rate and state-dependent friction from a micromechanical point of view

The physical meaning of the characteristic displacement that has been observed in velocity-stepping friction experiments was investigated based on the micromechanics of asperity contact. It has been empirically found for bare rock surfaces that the magnitude of the characteristic displacement is dependent only on surface roughness and insensitive to both slip velocity and normal stress. Thus the characteristic displacement has been interpreted as the displacement required to change the population of contact points completely. Here arises a question about the physical mechanism by which the contact population changes. Because individual asperity contacts form, grow and are eliminated with displacement, there are at least two possible interpretations for the characteristic displacement: (1) it is the distance over which the contacts existing at the moment of the velocity change all fade away, being replaced by new asperity contacts, or (2) it is the distance required for a complete replacement in the real contact area that existed at the moment of the velocity change. In order to test these possibilities, theoretical models were developed based on the statistics of distributed asperity summits. A computer simulation was also performed to check the validity of the theoretical models using three-dimensional surface topography data with various surface roughnesses. The deformation was assumed to be elastic at each asperity contact. The results of both the simulation and the theoretical models show that the characteristic displacement in (1) is about three times longer than that in (2). Comparison of the results with the experimental observations obtained by others indicates that the possibility (2) is the correct interpretation. This means that the state in the rate and state variable friction law is memorized in a very confined area of real contact. Further, our results explain why the characteristic displacement is insensitive to normal stress: this comes from the fact that the microscopic properties such as the mean contact diameter are insensitive to normal stress. The approach based on the micromechanics of asperity contact is useful to investigate the underlying mechanism of various phenomena in rock friction.     

一种新型粗糙节理面随机强度模型及其应用

天然岩体在长期地质作用下会生成各种节理裂隙等不连续面,而地下工程结构的稳定性一般取决于这些不连续面的强度。在众多因素中,表面形态对岩石节理面剪切强度具有决定性影响。为了系统研究岩石节理面剪切强度的确定方法,把岩石节理面概化为一系列高度不同的微长方体凸起组成的粗糙表面结构,且微长方体凸起有剪胀破坏和非剪胀破坏两种模式。综合微长方体凸起破坏规律,应用概率密度函数描述节理面表面起伏分布的影响,建立了粗糙节理面随机强度模型,推导了节理面剪切强度理论公式,提出了节理面强度的随机评价方法。基于随机强度模型和评价方法编制Matlab计算程序计算自然粗糙节理面的剪切强度,并将计算结果与试验结果进行比较分析。研究表明:粗糙节理面随机强度模型综合了粗糙节理面表面形态和法向应力对节理剪切强度的影响机制,理论计算值与试验数据吻合良好,可以较好的评价粗糙节理的峰值剪切强度和残余剪切强度。该随机模型可作为进一步深入研究的重要基础,分析结构面的连续剪切过程,建立更完善的节理面强度模型。     

地震断层面上凹凸体和障碍体含义的解析

由凹凸体和障碍体研究引入的非均匀地震破裂模式,可解释主震前破裂的成因及主破裂之后的应力集中,对地震危险性分析具有重要的理论价值。本文在国内外研究成果的基础上,深入研究了凹凸体和障碍体在地震破裂过程中的作用和意义,解析了凹凸体和障碍体的本质含义,对比分析了两种模式的异同之处,给出了两种模式在不同滑动模型中的适用性,为地震安全性评价提供了有力的理论依据。     

含障碍体滑动方向相同平行断层失稳破坏应变场、声发射分布特征的研究

通过对含障碍体滑动方向相同平行断层失稳破坏的应变场、声发射数据的处理，分析了平行断层障碍体上应变场、声发射的时空演化图象，进而分析了障碍体的破裂过程以及障碍体破坏所引起的相互作用和相互影响，即增减震关系的分析．结果表明，这种滑动方向相同的平行断层的失稳破坏是一种减震机制．      

由地震活动参数分析安宁河-则木河断裂带的现今活动习性及地震危险性

利用区域台网地震资料, 分析了川西安宁河-则木河断裂带不同段落的现今活动习性，进而鉴别潜在大地震危险的断裂段. 文中由异常低b值的分布圈绘出凹凸体，发展和应用了由多个地震活动参数值的组合判定断裂分段活动习性的方法，尝试了利用凹凸体段的震级频度关系参数估计特征地震的平均复发间隔. 结果表明，该研究断裂带存在5个不同现今活动习性的段落. 其中，安宁河断裂的冕宁-西昌段属于高应力下的闭锁段，其核心部分为一较大尺度的凹凸体；则木河断裂的西昌-普格段则表现为低应力下的微弱活动状态. 重新定位的震源深度分布，显示出上述闭锁段和微弱活动段的断层面轮廓. 冕宁-西昌段是未来大地震的潜在危险段. 该段从最晚的1952年6.7级地震起算，至未来特征地震的平均复发间隔估值为55～67年, 未来地震的震级估值为7.0～7.5. 本研究也初步表明，同-断裂段的活动习性可随时间动态演变.      

近场地震学中3个术语译名的商榷

asperity，barrier和fling step是近场地震学中3个重要的术语。但到目前为止，这3个术语还没有贴切、统一的中文译名。为了便于学术交流和读者对近场地震学的学习和理解，有必要规范统一它们的中文译名。本文基于3个术语产生的物理背景及其意义，建议这3个术语的中文译名分别为：asperity——高强体，barrier——止裂体，fling step——滑冲。