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Wrinkle‐like Weertman pulse at the interface between two blocks of foam rubber with different velocities
Author(s) -
Anooshehpoor Abdolrasool,
Brune James N.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1999gl900397
Subject(s) - natural rubber , perpendicular , shear (geology) , materials science , mechanics , slip (aerodynamics) , pulse (music) , particle velocity , displacement (psychology) , composite material , optics , physics , geometry , thermodynamics , psychology , mathematics , detector , psychotherapist
We verify the existence of self‐sustaining wrinkle‐like Weertman velocity pulses along a pre‐stressed interface between two dissimilar (Δ V = 60%) blocks of foam rubber. Properties of the observed velocity pulses are similar to the theoretical prediction of Weertman (1980), and the numerical calculations of Andrews and Ben‐Zion (1997). Particle displacement, in the direction perpendicular to the fault, is much larger in the slower medium than in the faster medium, resulting in a separation of the interface during the passage of the slip pulse. The rupture velocity is near the shear wave velocity in the slower material, and the direction of propagation is nearly always in the direction of the shear particle motion in the slower block. The pulse is self‐maintaining, that is, it does not die out from radiation damping, obtaining the necessary energy by releasing locally stored shear potential energy.