Faults of the lab: A new generation of rock friction experiments

Earthquakes happen when a geological fault suddenly slips along itself. Friction primarily governs the how a fault slips and whether that slip will be slow (not an earthquake) or sudden (an earthquake), yet the friction of faults remains poorly understood. One unexplored aspect of this problem is how the unique, grooved, streaky surface geometry and overall roughness of faults affects how they slip. The traditional rock friction experiment uses two sawtooth plates to grip and force ground-up rock in between them to slide, but these plates do not resemble actual faults. In this project, I address this problem using 3D printing. I am recreating well-established rock friction experiments but replacing commonly-used, unrealistic sample “faults,” such as the sawtooth plates, with 3D prints of real faults. I expect real faults to be more prone to earthquake-producing frictional behaviour, which will inform studies of earthquake processes and hazards globally.

Faculty Supervisor:

James Kirkpatrick

Student:

Partner:

University of California, Santa Cruz

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Other; Oil and Gas

University:

McGill University

Program: