Faithin Omaha eBook Collection

Download or read book Effects of Inelastic Off-fault Deformation on the Dynamics of Earthquake Rupture and Branch Fault Activation written by Elizabeth Land Templeton and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We also investigate how inelastic deformation controls the evolution of rupture velocity, branch path selection, and peak ground velocities and accelerations. Because the width of the plastic zone grows with increasing rupture length in a self-similar manner, the energy dissipated by inelastic deformation can limit the rupture velocity and result in self-similar rupture at a constant velocity finitely below the Rayleigh wave speed. Observed earthquake rupture speeds of 0.80 c R - 0.92 c R could be explained by a specific fracture energy with a linear dependence on crack length. When initial stresses are such that a transition to supershear would be possible in an elastic material, the transition to supershear is delayed or even prevented in some cases by inelastic off-fault deformation. Branch activation is more favorable at higher propagation velocities, but off-fault inelastic deformation reduces the likelihood of branch fault activation by slowing rupture velocity. Moderate reductions in radiated horizontal and vertical ground velocity and large reductions in accelerations occur when elastic-plastic off-fault response is incorporated during rupture.