Slip synergism of planar strike-slip fault during meta-instable state: Experimental research based on digital image correlation analysis

The meta-instable state (MIS) is the final stage before fault instability during stick-slip movement. Thus, identification of MIS is of great significance for assessing earthquake hazard in fault zones. A rock sample with a precut planar fault was loaded on a horizontally biaxial servo-controlled press machine to create stick-slip conditions. Digital images of the sample surface were taken by a high-speed camera at a rate of 1000 frames per second during the stick-slip motion and processed using a 2D digital image correlation method to obtain the displacement field. We define a synergism coefficient that describes the relative dispersion of the accumulative fault slip. The results reveal that: (1) a local pre-slip area spreads very slowly along the fault before the MIS develops. It extends at a higher but still slow speed during meta-instable state I (MIS-I). During the final ～1.5% of MIS, in meta-instable state II (MIS-II), the local pre-slip area first extends at a speed of ～0.9 m/s, and then expands out of the observed image area at a very high speed. These results indicate that the local pre-slip area transforms from a state of quasi-static extension in MIS-I to quasi-dynamic extension in MIS-II. (2) The synergism coefficient of the fault slip decreases to half of its original value in MIS-I and to a quarter of its original value in MIS-II. This continuous decrease of synergism coefficient indicates that the strengthening of fault slip synergism is a characteristic of MIS. (3) Furthermore, the unstable sliding stage includes three sliding processes: initial-, fast-, and adjusted-sliding. There are two pauses between the three sliding processes.