Tuesday, June 18, 2013

1306.3658 (Yohai Bar-Sinai et al.)

Instabilities at Frictional Interfaces: Creep Patches, Nucleation and
Rupture Fronts
   [PDF]

Yohai Bar-Sinai, Robert Spatschek, Efim A. Brener, Eran Bouchbinder
The strength and stability of frictional interfaces, ranging from tribological systems to earthquake faults, are intimately related to the underlying spatially-extended dynamics. Here we provide a comprehensive theoretical account, both analytic and numeric, of spatiotemporal interfacial dynamics in a realistic rate-and-state friction model, featuring both velocity-weakening and strengthening behaviors. Slowly extending, loading-rate dependent, creep patches undergo a linear instability at a critical nucleation size, which is nearly independent of interfacial history, initial stress conditions and velocity-strengthening friction. Nonlinear propagating rupture fronts -- the outcome of instability -- depend sensitively on the stress state and velocity-strengthening friction. Rupture fronts span a wide range of propagation velocities and are related to steady state fronts solutions.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1306.3658

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