Shear Banding in a Partially Molten Mantle

We investigate the nonlinear behaviour of partially molten mantle material under shear. Numerical models of compaction and advection-diffusion of a porous matrix with a spherical inclusion are built using the automated code generation package FEniCS. The time evolution of melt distribution with increasing shear in these models is compared to laboratory experiments that show high-porosity shear banding in the medium and pressure shadows around the inclusion. We focus on understanding the interaction between these shear bands and pressure shadows as a function of rheological parameters.