Finite-element 3D modeling of stress patterns around a dipping fault

• Main Authors: R.M. Lobatskaya, I.P. Strelchenko, E.S. Dolgikh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2018-09-01
• Series: Geoscience Frontiers
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987117301664

Stresses in a block around a dipping fracture simulating a damage zone of a fault are reconstructed by finite-element modeling. A fracture corresponding to a fault of different lengths, with its plane dipping at different angles, is assumed to follow a lithological interface and to experience either compression or shear. The stress associated with the destruction shows an asymmetrical pattern with different distances from the highest stress sites to the fault plane in the hanging and foot walls. As the dip angle decreases, the high-stress zone becomes wider in the hanging wall but its width changes negligibly in the foot wall. The length of the simulated fault and the deformation type affect only the magnitude of maximum stress, which remains asymmetrical relative to the fault plane. The Lh/Lf ratio, where Lh and Lf are the widths of high-stress zones in the hanging and foot walls of the fault, respectively, is inversely proportional to the fault plane dip. The arithmetic mean of this ratio over different fault lengths in fractures subject to compression changes from 0.29 at a dip of 80° to 1.67 at 30°. In the case of shift displacement, ratios are increasing to 1.2 and 2.94, respectively.Usually they consider vertical fault planes and symmetry in a damage zone of faults. Following that assumption may cause errors in reconstructions of stress and fault patterns in areas of complex structural setting. According geological data, we know the structures are different and asymmetric in hanging and foot walls of fault. Thus, it is important to quantify zones of that asymmetry. The modeling results have to be taken into account in studies of natural faults, especially for practical applications in seismic risk mapping, engineering geology, hydrogeology, and tectonics. Keywords: Stress, Fault, Finite-element modeling, ANSYS package