MECHANICS OF THE SEISMIC PROCESS IN A ROCK MADE UP OF DISCRETE BLOCKS

Abstract

The block model enables us to identify several characteristic features of the deformation of the crustal medium that are typical of multicomponent mechanical systems. A nontrivial property of block structure is its ability to accumulate the results of action of extremely small force fields. The theoretical possibility of such an accumulation has been demonstrated elsewhere. This paper discusses this factor we have also analyzed the effect of microfluctuations on energy liberation during the deformation of part (subregion) of the disk assemblage. Thus, microvibrations, i.e., application of small dynamic force, produces a situation in which individual contacts impaired by these microvibrations can no longer accumulate strain during subsequent quasistatic loading without themselves undergoing immediate dynamic slip. This localized slip prevents, however, failure of the rock as a whole.