Mechanical behavior and damage patterns of fault Stick–slip under various roughness conditions

Mechanical behavior and damage patterns of fault Stick–slip under various roughness conditions | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Mechanical behavior and damage patterns of fault Stick–slip under various roughness conditions Qianbai Zhao, Yong Zhao, Tianhong Yang, Shuhong Wang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5123632/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 04 Jan, 2025 Read the published version in Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources → Version 1 posted 12 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Characterized by depressions and elevations, the rough surfaces of faults are prone to stress concentration and energy accumulation, leading to localized rupture in the upper and lower blocks. These regions are more susceptible to stick–slip instability, manifesting various failure modes and mechanical behaviors, which are among the key factors influencing fault reactivation. Therefore, the mechanical behavior and damage mechanisms of fault stick–slip under varying roughness levels necessitate further investigation. Acoustic emission monitoring is a crucial method for studying fault stick–slip failure models, enabling the acquisition of pertinent information during the fault activation process. However, the fault plane structures impede the propagation path and intensity of the rock fracture-induced acoustic emissions, thereby imposing certain limitations on examining the response mechanisms between the fault’s upper and lower blocks and the rock structure surfaces. In this study, discrete-element numerical simulations were used to construct numerical models under different roughness conditions to simulate the stick–slip failure process of faults. Also, by recording the changes in mechanical behaviors among particle contacts, the acoustic emission characteristics and evolutionary patterns of fault stick–slip were investigated in more depth. The findings detail how the fault roughness level impacts the stick–slip motion process, including the evolution of stress–strain relationships (e.g., number of stick–slips, threshold stress, stress drop, and maximum stress drop), energy dissipation, and acoustic emission signal characteristics (e.g., magnitude and failure mechanisms). This research offers significant insights into how fault roughness influences the stick–slip process and introduces a new numerical simulation approach for studying the mechanical behavior of fault activation. Furthermore, this study serves as a critical reference for laboratory-based fault stick–slip acoustic emission experiments and on-site microseismic monitoring research. Acoustic emission simulation Roughness Rock mass damage Stick–slip Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 04 Jan, 2025 Read the published version in Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 09 Nov, 2024 Reviews received at journal 19 Oct, 2024 Reviews received at journal 10 Oct, 2024 Reviews received at journal 08 Oct, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Oct, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Oct, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 30 Sep, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 30 Sep, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 28 Sep, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 28 Sep, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 26 Sep, 2024 First submitted to journal 20 Sep, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5123632","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":376136370,"identity":"5b46d018-87de-4845-8e7d-5469c7088c5a","order_by":0,"name":"Qianbai Zhao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Northeastern University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qianbai","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhao","suffix":""},{"id":376136371,"identity":"5a7e0235-e972-4eaf-8394-9412da95f9c4","order_by":1,"name":"Yong Zhao","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCQSTmeGDgY0daVoYZxSkJZOmhZnnwyHGBkI65Gc3P3zMU3HHbnt782NjG4MDzAzsh49uwKeFcc4xY2OeM8+S55w5ZpycY3CHj4EnLe0GPi3MEglm0rxth5MlJHKYD+cYPGNmkOAxw6uFTSL9G0KLhcFhxgZCWngkcsC22IG0JDMQowWosthwzpnDCRI8x4wNewzSktkI+UV+RvrGB28qDttLsDc/lvjxx8aOn/3wMbxaQICJh4EhsQHuO0LKQYDxBwODPTEKR8EoGAWjYIQCANGTRSpAw2ztAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Northeastern University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yong","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhao","suffix":""},{"id":376136372,"identity":"fd734078-1015-4f6d-922d-2f119ee5a750","order_by":2,"name":"Tianhong Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Northeastern University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tianhong","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":376136373,"identity":"91c1bc48-4f1a-4913-80e4-0bf565abb241","order_by":3,"name":"Shuhong Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Northeastern University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shuhong","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-09-20 12:27:14","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5123632/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5123632/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s40948-024-00920-4","type":"published","date":"2025-01-04T15:57:20+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":73093275,"identity":"0d9c205e-86f3-4657-8a68-e04c574683ab","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-06 16:12:39","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1710881,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"RevisedManuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5123632/v1_covered_841230f8-0638-40b2-8f3d-aa8e9427cc0e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Mechanical behavior and damage patterns of fault Stick–slip under various roughness conditions","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"geomechanics-and-geophysics-for-geo-energy-and-geo-resources","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"gggg","sideBox":"Learn more about [Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources](http://link.springer.com/journal/40948)","snPcode":"40948","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/40948/3","title":"Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Acoustic emission simulation, Roughness, Rock mass damage, Stick–slip","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5123632/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5123632/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eCharacterized by depressions and elevations, the rough surfaces of faults are prone to stress concentration and energy accumulation, leading to localized rupture in the upper and lower blocks. 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