Study of slider-blocks as a model for fracture and friction
Supervisor: Dr. Robert Shcherbakov
Can extend to MSc?: Yes
Project Description (Abstract):
The fracture processes in complex rheological materials involve the occurrence of subsequent time-delayed aftershocks. The occurrence of aftershocks is a signature of physical systems exhibiting relaxation phenomena. They are observed in various natural or experimental systems and usually obey several non-trivial empirical laws. In our previous study (Sci. Rep. 6, 2016, doi: 10.1038/srep36668) we showed that non-linear viscoelasticity plays a critical role in the occurrence of aftershocks. The model reproduces several empirical laws describing the statistics of aftershocks. In this project, I propose to study a cellular automaton realization of a nonlinear viscoelastic slider-block model using the standard non-linear solid rheology in order to infer the physical mechanisms of triggering responsible for the occurrence of aftershocks. The project will involve writing a computer code to simulate the model, analyze the statistics of model simulations, and characterize the model behaviour.
