Effect of the time-weakening friction law during the nucleation process

Abstract

Based on dynamic rupture simulations on a planar fault in a homogeneous half-space, we investigated the nucleation processes using the time-weakening friction law. Both the characteristic time and the rupture speed in the nucleation asperity play an important role in determining rupture behaviors on a fault plane following the time-weakening friction law, with which rupture starts from a single point in the nucleation asperity and propagates at a given speed toward the boundary of the nucleation area. Rupture with a small characteristic time or a large rupture speed in the nucleation asperity propagates earlier from the hypocenter. Rupture following the slip-weakening friction law requires a smaller radius of nucleation patch to have similar rupture front contours of the time-weakening friction law. Even if the rupture velocity in the nucleation patch of the time-weakening friction law increases to infinity, the peak slip rate in the nucleation asperity is smaller than that of the slip-weakening law. The peak ground velocity distributions of ruptures following the two friction laws are also compared.