Analysis of the Influence of Thermal Loading on the Behaviour of the Earth’s Crust

Abstract

The article focuses on the deformation and strain-stress analysis of the Earth’s crust under external thermal loading. More specifically, the influence of cyclic changes in the surface temperature field on the stress and displacement inside the crust over a two-year time span is investigated. The finite element program MSC.Marc Mentat was used to calculate the stresses and displacements. For practical analysis reasons, the Earth’s crust is simplified as a planar, piecewise homogeneous, isotropic model (plane strain), and time-varying temperature functions of illumination (thermal radiation) from the Sun are considered in the local isotropy sections of the model. Interaction between the Earth’s crust and mantle is defined by the Winkler elastic foundation. By applying a probabilistic approach (Monte Carlo Method), a new stochastic model of displacements and stresses and new information on crustal displacements relative to the Earth’s mantle were obtained. The results proved the heating influence of the Sun on the Earth’s crust and plate tectonics.