A composite rate- and state-dependent law for rock friction
Abstract
Existing constitutive laws of rock friction cannot describe both observed strengthening in the absence of slip and frictional behavior around steady-state sliding. Combining existing rate- and state-dependent friction laws, we propose a new friction law, which expresses logarithmically time-dependent healing at sliding velocities smaller than a cut-off velocity Vc and approaches the so-called slip law at velocities larger than Vc. Numerical simulations show that the new friction law adequately explains experimental results of velocity stepping tests and slide-hold-slide tests, which have widely been used to examine velocity-, time-, and displacement-dependent property of rock friction. Because the new friction law has a simple form and appears appropriate for a wide range of conditions, it is useful for application to numerical modeling of seismic cycles.
- Publication:
-
Geophysical Research Letters
- Pub Date:
- March 2001
- DOI:
- 10.1029/2000GL012060
- Bibcode:
- 2001GeoRL..28.1103K
- Keywords:
-
- Physical Properties of Rocks: Fracture and flow;
- Seismology: Earthquake dynamics and mechanics