Jean Sulem - Böcker

The identification of meso-scale phenomena – occurring between microscopic and continuum length scales – has been one of the most exciting developments in rock mechanics in the last decade. Meso-scale phenomena are considered as the bridge between the two length scales in understanding shear between material interfaces as well as particulate systems and in studying material response. Examples are the initiation of seismic slip along fault planes at great depths at rates nearing shock conditions, and the initiation and rapid runout of landslides near the earth’s surface. Additionally, the basic physics of thermo-poro-mechanical coupling can be elucidated through a meso-scale mechanics approach as a means of understanding the loss of shearing resistance when water and heat are trapped inside almost impervious clay layers under great pressure.This book presents a collection of 21 current, peer-reviewed articles on shear physics at the meso-scale in earthquake and landslide mechanics, authored by leading international experts in the field. Contributions are grouped in 5 chapters, discussing (1) the dynamics of frictional slip, (2) fault gauge mechanics, (3) experimental fault zone mechanics, (4) granular shear and liquefaction, and (5) landslides’ dynamics. This research area has broad applications to the fields of earth sciences and geoengineering, with immediate bearing on our understanding of both earthquake and landslide mechanics, two geological processes that pose great risk to man kind worldwide.

The identification of meso-scale phenomena – occurring between microscopic and continuum length scales – has been one of the most exciting developments in rock mechanics in the last decade. Meso-scale phenomena are considered as the bridge between the two length scales in understanding shear between material interfaces as well as particulate systems and in studying material response. Examples are the initiation of seismic slip along fault planes at great depths at rates nearing shock conditions, and the initiation and rapid runout of landslides near the earth’s surface. Additionally, the basic physics of thermo-poro-mechanical coupling can be elucidated through a meso-scale mechanics approach as a means of understanding the loss of shearing resistance when water and heat are trapped inside almost impervious clay layers under great pressure.This book presents a collection of 21 current, peer-reviewed articles on shear physics at the meso-scale in earthquake and landslide mechanics, authored by leading international experts in the field. Contributions are grouped in 5 chapters, discussing (1) the dynamics of frictional slip, (2) fault gauge mechanics, (3) experimental fault zone mechanics, (4) granular shear and liquefaction, and (5) landslides’ dynamics. This research area has broad applications to the fields of earth sciences and geoengineering, with immediate bearing on our understanding of both earthquake and landslide mechanics, two geological processes that pose great risk to man kind worldwide.

Instabilities Modeling in Geomechanics describes complex mechanisms which are frequently met in earthquake nucleation, geothermal energy production, nuclear waste disposal and CO2 sequestration. These mechanisms involve systems of non-linear differential equations that express the evolution of the geosystem (e.g. strain localization, temperature runaway, pore pressure build-up, etc.) at different length and time scales. In order to study the evolution of a system and possible instabilities, it is essential to know the mathematical properties of the governing equations. Therefore, questions of the existence, uniqueness and stability of solutions naturally arise. This book particularly explores bifurcation theory and stability analysis, which are robust and rigorous mathematical tools that allow us to study the behavior of complex geosystems, without even explicitly solving the governing equations. The contents are organized into 10 chapters which illustrate the application of these methods in various fields of geomechanics.

This book presents the theoretical bases and the application tools for using the 'convergence-confinement' method which is a rational method largely used in design engineering for tunneling.