Frictional weakening of a granular sheared layer due to viscous rolling revealed by Discrete Element Modeling

Considering a 3D sheared granular layer modeled with discrete elements, it is well known the rolling resistance significantly influences the mechanical behavior. Even if the rolling resistance role has been deeply investigated as it is commonly used to represent the the roughness of the grains and the interparticle locking, the role of rolling viscous damping coefficient has been largely overlooked so far. This parameter is rarely used or only to dissipate the energy and to converge numerically. This paper revisits the physical role of those coefficients with a parametric study of the rolling friction and the rolling damping for a sheared layer at different shear speeds and different confinement pressures. It has been observed that the damping coefficient induces a frictional weakening. Hence, competition between the rolling resistance and the rolling damping occurs. Angular resistance aims to avoid grains rolling, decreasing the difference between the angular velocities of grains. Whereas, angular damping acts in the opposite, avoiding a change in the difference between the angular velocities of grains. In consequence, grains keep rolling and the sample strength decreases. This effect must be considered to not overestimate the frictional response of a granular layer.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, 4 table

A Phase-Field Discrete Element Method to study chemo-mechanical coupling in granular materials

This paper presents an extension of the discrete element method using a phase-field formulation to incorporate grain shape and its evolution. The introduction of a phase variable enables an effective representation of grain geometry and facilitates the application of physical laws, such as chemo-mechanical couplings, for modeling shape changes. These physical laws are solved numerically using the finite element method coupled in a staggered scheme to the discrete element model. The efficacy of the proposed Phase-Field Discrete Element Model (PFDEM) is demonstrated through its ability to accurately capture the real grain shape in a material subjected to dissolution only and compute the stress evolution. It is then applied to model the phenomenon of pressure solution involving dissolution and precipitation in granular materials at the microscale and enables to reproduce the creep response observed experimentally. This framework contributes to the enhanced understanding and simulation of complex behaviors in granular materials and sedimentary rocks for many geological processes like diagenesis or earthquake nucleation.Comment: 68 pages, 37 figures, 5 table

Strain localization regularization and patterns formation in rate-dependent plastic materials with multiphysics coupling

Strain localization is an instability phenomenon occurring in deformable solid materials which undergo dissipative deformation mechanisms. Such instability is characterized by the localization of the displacement or velocity fields in a zone of finite thickness and is generally associated with the failure of materials. In several fields of material engineering and natural sciences, estimating the thickness of localized deformation is required to make accurate predictions of the evolution of the physical properties within localized strain regions and of the material strength. In this context, scientists and engineers often rely on numerical modeling techniques to study strain localization in solid materials. However, classical continuum theory for elasto-plastic materials fails at estimating strain localization thicknesses due to the lack of an internal length in the model constitutive laws. In this study, we investigate at which conditions multiphysics coupling enables to regularize the problem of strain localization using rate-dependent plasticity. We show that coupling the constitutive laws for deformation to a single generic diffusion-reaction equation representing a dissipative state variable can be sufficient to regularize the ill-posed problem under some conditions on the softening parameters in the plastic potential. We demonstrate in these cases how rate-dependent plasticity and multiphysics coupling can lead to material instabilities depicting one or several internal length scales controlled by the physical parameters resulting in the formation of regular or erratic patterns. As we consider a general form of the equations, the results presented in this study can be applied to a large panel of examples in the material engineering and geosciences communities

Thermo-hydro-mechanical couplings and strain localization in Cosserat continua : application to stability analysis of rapid shear in faults

Les matériaux soumis à de grandes déformations présentes pour la plupart l’apparition de déformations inélastiques. Ce phénomène est souvent accompagné d’une localisation des déformations dans une zone étroite, précurseur de la rupture. Un cas particulier, mais très fréquent, est les bandes de cisaillement qui apparaissent pour beaucoup de géomatériaux. Ces bandes peuvent être rencontrées à des échelles allant de l’échelle kilométrique pour les zones de subduction à l’échelle micrométrique à l’intérieur des zones de faille. Etudier et modéliser la création de ces zones d’instabilité est fondamental pour décrire la rupture des géomatériaux et des phénomènes associés comme les glissements sismiques dans les zones de faille mature de la lithosphère. Les conditions de pression, de température, l’interaction de l’eau interstitielle avec un matériau finement fracturé conduisent à l’apparition de multiples processus physiques impliqués dans les glissements sismiques. Dans ce travail, nous nous attachons à modéliser la création de bandes de cisaillement à l’intérieur des gouges de faille en prenant en compte l’effet de la microstructure par l’intermédiaire des milieux continus de Cosserat, ainsi que les couplages thermo-hydro-mécanique. L’utilisation de la théorie de Cosserat permet non seulement de régulariser le problème de localisation des déformations par l’introduction d’une longueur interne dans les lois constitutives, mais en même temps de prendre en compte l’effet de la microstructure. Deux approches sont employées pour étudier le système d’équations couplées aux dérivées partielles non linéaires : L’analyse de stabilité linéaire et la méthode des éléments finis. L’analyse de stabilité linéaire permet d’examiner les conditions d’apparitions d’instabilités pour un système mécanique avec des couplages multi-physiques. Par ailleurs, des considérations sur les perturbations appliquées au système permettent aussi de déterminer l’épaisseur de la zone de cisaillement, un paramètre clé pour la compréhension du mécanisme mécanique des failles. Ces estimations sont confirmées par l’intégration numérique pour des déformations restant dans une gamme donnée. Elles sont confrontées aux observations expérimentales et in situ et présentent une bonne corrélation. D’autre part, les simulations numériques permettent d’obtenir la réponse mécanique de la gouge de faille et de donner des informations sur l’influence des différents couplages dans le budget énergétique d’un tremblement de terreWhen materials are subjected to large deformations, most of them experience inelastic deformations. It is often accompanied by a localization of these deformations into a narrow zone leading to failure. One particular case of strain localization is the formation of shear bands which are the most common patterns observed in geomaterials. In geological structures, they appear at very different scales, from kilometer scale for subduction zones, to micrometric scale inside fault cores. Studying their occurrence and evolution is of key importance to describe the failure of geomaterials and model seismic slip for mature crustal faults. The pressure and temperature conditions in these faults and the interaction with the pore water inside a highly fractured materials highlight the importance of different physical processes involved in the nucleation of earthquakes. In this thesis, we study the occurrence and evolution of shear bands inside fault gouges taking into account the material microstructure by resorting to elastoplastic Cosserat continua and also the effect of thermo-hydro mechanical couplings. The use of Cosserat theory introduces information about the gouge microstructure, namely the grain size, and permits to regularize the mathematical problem of in the post-localization regime by introducing an internal length into the constitutive equations. Two approaches are used to study the coupled non-linear partial differential set of equations: linear stability analysis and finite element simulations. Linear stability analysis allows to study the occurrence of localized deformation in a mechanical system with multi-physical couplings. Considerations on the dominant wave length of the perturbations permit also to determine the width of the localized zone. This shear band thickness is confirmed by numerical integration in the post-localization regime for a certain range of deformation. The obtained widths of the localized zone are key parameters for understanding fault behavior, are in agreement with experimental and field observations. Moreover, numerical finite element computations enable to model the mechanical response of a fault gouge during seismic slip and give insights into the influence of various physical couplings on the energy budge

Couplages thermo-hydro-mécanique et localisation dans les milieux de Cosserat : application à l'analyse de stabilité du cisaillement rapide des failles

When materials are subjected to large deformations, most of them experience inelastic deformations. It is often accompanied by a localization of these deformations into a narrow zone leading to failure. One particular case of strain localization is the formation of shear bands which are the most common patterns observed in geomaterials. In geological structures, they appear at very different scales, from kilometer scale for subduction zones, to micrometric scale inside fault cores. Studying their occurrence and evolution is of key importance to describe the failure of geomaterials and model seismic slip for mature crustal faults. The pressure and temperature conditions in these faults and the interaction with the pore water inside a highly fractured materials highlight the importance of different physical processes involved in the nucleation of earthquakes. In this thesis, we study the occurrence and evolution of shear bands inside fault gouges taking into account the material microstructure by resorting to elastoplastic Cosserat continua and also the effect of thermo-hydro mechanical couplings. The use of Cosserat theory introduces information about the gouge microstructure, namely the grain size, and permits to regularize the mathematical problem of in the post-localization regime by introducing an internal length into the constitutive equations. Two approaches are used to study the coupled non-linear partial differential set of equations: linear stability analysis and finite element simulations. Linear stability analysis allows to study the occurrence of localized deformation in a mechanical system with multi-physical couplings. Considerations on the dominant wave length of the perturbations permit also to determine the width of the localized zone. This shear band thickness is confirmed by numerical integration in the post-localization regime for a certain range of deformation. The obtained widths of the localized zone are key parameters for understanding fault behavior, are in agreement with experimental and field observations. Moreover, numerical finite element computations enable to model the mechanical response of a fault gouge during seismic slip and give insights into the influence of various physical couplings on the energy budgetLes matériaux soumis à de grandes déformations présentes pour la plupart l’apparition de déformations inélastiques. Ce phénomène est souvent accompagné d’une localisation des déformations dans une zone étroite, précurseur de la rupture. Un cas particulier, mais très fréquent, est les bandes de cisaillement qui apparaissent pour beaucoup de géomatériaux. Ces bandes peuvent être rencontrées à des échelles allant de l’échelle kilométrique pour les zones de subduction à l’échelle micrométrique à l’intérieur des zones de faille. Etudier et modéliser la création de ces zones d’instabilité est fondamental pour décrire la rupture des géomatériaux et des phénomènes associés comme les glissements sismiques dans les zones de faille mature de la lithosphère. Les conditions de pression, de température, l’interaction de l’eau interstitielle avec un matériau finement fracturé conduisent à l’apparition de multiples processus physiques impliqués dans les glissements sismiques. Dans ce travail, nous nous attachons à modéliser la création de bandes de cisaillement à l’intérieur des gouges de faille en prenant en compte l’effet de la microstructure par l’intermédiaire des milieux continus de Cosserat, ainsi que les couplages thermo-hydro-mécanique. L’utilisation de la théorie de Cosserat permet non seulement de régulariser le problème de localisation des déformations par l’introduction d’une longueur interne dans les lois constitutives, mais en même temps de prendre en compte l’effet de la microstructure. Deux approches sont employées pour étudier le système d’équations couplées aux dérivées partielles non linéaires : L’analyse de stabilité linéaire et la méthode des éléments finis. L’analyse de stabilité linéaire permet d’examiner les conditions d’apparitions d’instabilités pour un système mécanique avec des couplages multi-physiques. Par ailleurs, des considérations sur les perturbations appliquées au système permettent aussi de déterminer l’épaisseur de la zone de cisaillement, un paramètre clé pour la compréhension du mécanisme mécanique des failles. Ces estimations sont confirmées par l’intégration numérique pour des déformations restant dans une gamme donnée. Elles sont confrontées aux observations expérimentales et in situ et présentent une bonne corrélation. D’autre part, les simulations numériques permettent d’obtenir la réponse mécanique de la gouge de faille et de donner des informations sur l’influence des différents couplages dans le budget énergétique d’un tremblement de terr

A Thermo-Chemo-Mechanical Model for Fault Friction

A substantial decrease of the apparent friction has been observed in many experiments performed on synthetic or recovered fault gouges or bare rocks at seismic slip rates for different materials. This phenomenon has major implications to understand the creation of earthquakes in the brittle part of the lithosphere. These observations have become possible thank to the development of experimental machines that allow to shear the material at high velocities (up to 1 m/s) under moderately high normal stresses (up to 20 MPa). In this study, we show that the weakening of the apparent friction coefficient can be explained by thermo-chemo-mechanical mechanisms. We model the fault core as an infinite sheared layer and use thermo-chemo-mechanical couplings to account for the most important processes involved in a fault zone and in the laboratory experiments. In particular, the increasing velocity during a seismic slip induces a temperature rise, which can trigger phase transformations that affect the shear stress of the system. The evolution of friction at steady state obtained from the model fits adequately results of experiments performed on various materials such as clay, halite, carbonate, granite, serpentinite and silicate