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Geophysics
Geosystems
Article
Volume 6, Number 11
15 November 2005
Q11008, doi:10.1029/2005GC000991
ISSN: 1525-2027
[1] The well-known formalism of rate and state dependent friction represents the transition between
starting friction and sliding friction. It expresses the instantaneous coefficient of friction in macroscopic
quantities as m = m0 + a ln (V/V0) + b ln (y/ynorm), where m0 is the first-order coefficient of friction, a and b
are small (0.01) dimensionless constants, V is sliding velocity, V0 is a reference sliding velocity, and the
inverse of the state variable 1/y represents damage. The normalizing state variable ynorm (P/P0)a/b
represents the effect of the normal traction P on stress concentrations, where P0 is a constant with
dimensions of pressure and a b is another dimensionless constant. Evolution equations represent the
combined effect of damage from sliding and healing on the state variable. The Ruina (1983) evolution
equation implies that the state variable does not change (no healing) during holds when sliding is stopped.
It arises from exponential creep within gouge when the concentrated stress at asperities scales with the
macroscopic quantities. The parameter b a being positive is a necessary condition for a spring-slider
system becoming unstable. Microscopically, this parameter represents the tendency of asperities
accommodating shear creep to persist longer than asperities of compaction creep at high sliding
velocities. In the Dieterich (1979) evolution law, healing occurs when the sample is at rest. It is a special
case where creep that produces shear and creep that produces compaction occur at different microscopic
locations at a subgrain scale. It also applies qualitatively for compaction at a shear traction well below that
needed for frictional sliding. Chemically, it may apply when shear sliding occurs within weak microscopic
regions of hydrated silica while compaction creep occurs within comparatively anhydrous grains.
Components: 7334 words, 4 figures.
Keywords: asperity; evolution laws; friction; rate and state.
Index Terms: 5104 Physical Properties of Rocks: Fracture and flow; 5120 Physical Properties of Rocks: Plasticity, diffusion,
and creep; 7209 Seismology: Earthquake dynamics (1242).
Received 5 April 2005; Revised 18 July 2005; Accepted 3 August 2005; Published 15 November 2005.
Sleep, N. H. (2005), Physical basis of evolution laws for rate and state friction, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 6, Q11008,
doi:10.1029/2005GC000991.
1. Introduction
[2] The rate and state friction formalism describes
the transition between static friction and sliding
friction. It provides a good representation of laboratory data by including a term for damage associated with sliding and a term for healing when the
slider is slows down or is at rest. These terms result
in the attractive property that the formalism can
represent repeated earthquake cycles where the
fault strengthens during the interseismic period. It
Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union
is well known that the second-order terms representing damage and healing determine mathematically whether a fault creeps peaceably or fails
catastrophically in an earthquake.
[3] I concentrate on healing in this paper. One
would like to know the physical basis of the laws
that purport to represent it before exporting laboratory results to the earthquake cycle at depth.
Troublingly, there are two different evolution laws
for keeping track of damage and healing on the
fault surface. The Dieterich [1979] evolution law
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Figure 1. The paper considers stress involved in friction on several scales. Most laboratory experiments record the
sliding velocity and the stresses averaged over the contact surface. The stresses on a patch of the surface may differ
from these averages. The mesoscopic stress and strain rate within the gouge are useful for representing rate and state
equations as flow laws. The microscopic stress and strain rate within the small part of a grain, like an asperity of real
contact, are useful for representing deformation as thermally activated creep.
a=b
@t
Dc
Dc P
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a=b
P0 e0
Pa=b
a=b
a=b
eint
@t
yeint P
8a
yss
ff
;
y exp
Ce
P0
8b
Pa=b e00
a=b
P0 e0
#
:
P
P0
a=a
b=a
1
t m0 P
:
exp
y
aP
10
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[11] A general expression for the thermally activated creep rate of a substance allows relating
terms [Sleep, 1997]
q
treal M
1 ;
e0real e0base exp
RT
tPreal
:
P
11
12a
qtreal M
:
e0real e0base exp
RT
12b
RT
:
qMPreal
13
14
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sij n1
s ;
htn1
ref
15
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n1=2
t 2
t c2 P2
;
htn1
ref
16
n1=2
EP 2
t c2 P2
be0 ;
n1
htref
17
n1=2
t 2
t c2 P2
Wf 0 ;
n1
htref
18
EP
f e
b :
t
0
19
0
E
a
e
b
y
1 ln 0 ln
e0 b; 20
e0
m0
m0
m0
ynorm
0
E a
e
b
y
:
ln 0 ln
e0
m0 m0
m0
ynorm
21
Ce
e
y
;
f e
ln 0 ln
eint
e0
ynorm
0
22
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25
23a
cPm r cosq:
23b
and
q
t2m c2 Pm2 :
24
E
cosq expr=s be0m ;
c
26
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ZZ
27
Z
hrrdr
h
i
d
p sinq exp d2 q q0 l2 dq
p
28
t
;
cP
29
Z
hrrdrsinq0 l cosq0
30
hrrdrcosq0 l sinq0
be0 :
31
1
ln
ln
e0
e00
m0
m0
m0
ynorm
2
2
m c
b
l 0
m0 c
32
0
e0 E a
e
b
y
m0 c2
:
l
f
ln 0 ln
e0
m0 c
m0 m0
m0
ynorm
0
33
0
2
e0 E b
e
b
y
m c2
l 0
ln 0 ln
e
m0 c
m0 m0
m
ynorm
00
0
ab
e
ln 0 :
e0
m0
34
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m0 c
e0
m0
35
Differentiating yields
@l
m20 c2
:
ba
c
@ ln e0
36
:
@t
aP
37
:
t c2 Pm2
s m
@tm
38
:
m c2
sP 0
@tm
0
39
1=2
s 2
m0 c2
:
Pm
40
1=2
RT 2
:
m c2
qM 0
41
lnynorm
Zt0
m
Pt0
wm a
ln
b
P0
b
1
P
dt;
expwt0 t
ln
P0
42
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Ecn1 Pn
;
htn1
ref
43
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"
#
"
#
a=b
@y
e00 Pa=b ye0
e0 y
P0 e0 y
ln a=b 0 ;
a=b
eD
@t
eR
P e0
eD P0
44
Notation
a
b
c
C1
Ce
Dc
e0
E
f
0
m
f
fss
g
h
ij
M
n
P
P0
Pm
Preal
q
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R
r
s
t
T
V
V0
W
a
b
g0
d
h
q
q0
eint
eD
eR
e0
e00
em0
e0base
e0real
f
y
ynorm
yss
l
m
m0
sij
t
tm
treal
tref
w
W
Acknowledgments
[46] This research was in part supported by NSF grant EAR0406658. This research was supported by the Southern
California Earthquake Center. SCEC is funded by NSF Cooperative Agreement EAR-0106924 and USGS Cooperative
Agreement 02HQAG0008. The SCEC contribution number
for this paper is 896. I thank Jim Rice, Chris Marone, and
Terry Tullis for discussions at the 2004 SCEC meeting and
helpful emails. David Sparks and an anonymous reviewer
provided numerous suggestions.
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