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ANNALS OF GEOPHYSICS. 61, 5, SE560, 2018; doi: 10.4401/ag-7837
“AN ANALYTIC STUDY OF FRICTIONAL EFFECT ON SLIP PULSES OFEARTHQUAKES„
Jeen-Hwa Wang1,*
(1) Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, Nangang, Taipei, Taiwan
1. INTRODUCTION
Heaton [1990] first found the existence of slip
pulses of earthquakes. Let TR and TD be the rise time
of displacement at a site on a fault and the duration
time of ruptures over the entire fault, respectively. He
observed TR<
>1; while the CS shows a crack-
like rupture for VW friction when υ is not too large. For SW friction, TR and TR/TD decrease when the slip pulse propagates in advance
along the fault and when ω0 and γ increase. TR and TR/TD also depend on vR (rupture velocity) and increasing L (fault length). For the PS,
Tp/TD is a good indication to show the existence of pulse-like oscillations at a site, because Tp (the predominant period of oscillations at
a site) is slightly longer than TR. Results show the existence of a pulse-like oscillation at a site for the two types of friction. A pulse-like
oscillation is generated when Δ>1.6 for SW friction and when υ>0.6 for VW friction. Tp/TD decreases with increasing Δ. For the two types
of friction, To/TD decreases when vR and L increase.
Beeler and Tullis, 1996; Cochard and Madariaga, 1996;
Perrin et al., 1995; Zheng and Rice, 1998; Nielsen et
al., 2000; Lapusta et al., 2000; Ben-Zion and Huang,
2002; Nielsen and Madariaga, 2003; Coker et al., 2005;
Rice et al., 2005; Ampuero and Ben-Zion, 2008; Urata
et al., 2008; Ando et al., 2010; Garagash, 2012]. Fric-
tion used by those authors includes VW friction, SW
friction, velocity- and state-dependent friction, and
thermal-pressurized friction. Results suggest that rup-
ture modes are controlled by several factors, including
friction laws, fault strengths, stress conditions on
faults, energy and heat generated by faulting, scaling
laws of faults, and spatial-temporal complexity of
fault slip. In addition, some researchers considered ge-
ometrical heterogeneity of slip is a mechanism to stop
earthquake rupture. Beroza and Mikumo [1996] sug-
gested that the short TR could yielded by pre-existing
stress with heterogeneous fault strengths.
The slip pulses have also been studied by some au-
thors [Wu and Chen, 1998; Chen and Wang, 2010; El-
banna and Heaton, 2012] based on the 1-D
spring-slider model (abbreviated as the 1-D BK model
hereafter) proposed by Burridge and Knopoff [1967].
From analytic studies by using SW friction, Wu and
Chen [1998] claimed that SW friction can result in the
self-healing slip pulse and the width of a pulse de-
pends on vR and friction strength. From numerical
studies by using VW friction Chen and Wang [2010]
found the propagation of slip pulses with TR/TD<0.1
along the model. Their simulation results are in agree-
ment with Heaton’s observations. Elbanna and Heaton
[2012] pointed out the differences between the BK
model and crack models. According to linear elastic
fracture mechanics, slip pulses are seldom generated in
the continuum models because slipping region inside
of a fault cannot release applied stress without con-
tinuous slip while rupture is extending. On the other
hand, in the BK model slip pulses can be produced due
to the following reason. Each slider can completely re-
lease stress exerted by the leaf springs by going back
to their equilibrium position even while rupture is ex-
tending. In other words, each slider does not transfer
stress after their stoppage and information on the
length of rupture does not feedback.
Laboratory experiments also provide significant in-
formation on generation of slip pulses. Coker et al.
[2005] observed the existence of both pulse-like and
crack-like ruptures under certain conditions. Lyko-
trafitis et al. [2006] observed the pulse-like shear rup-
tures with self-healing. Lu et al. [2007] found that the
rupture modes depend on the level of fault pre-stress
and VW friction is important for earthquake dynam-
ics. Biegel et al. [2008] found that off-fault damage
can affect the slip-pulse velocity.
As mentioned previously, in order to generate slip
pulses some authors prefer to VW friction, while other
favor SW friction. In this study, I will investigate the
frictional effects on the generation of slip pulses using
the continuous form of the 1-D BK model with linear
SW friction or linear VW friction. Hence, it is signifi-
cant to examine which friction (SW or VW friction) is
more capable than the other for yielding slip pulses.
2. ONE-DIMENSIONAL SPRING-SLIDER MODEL
2.1 MODEL
Burridge and Knopoff [1967] proposed the 1-D BK
model (see Figure 1), in which there are N sliders and
springs. A slider with mass, m, is connected to its near-
est two neighbors by a coil spring of stiffness, Kc. Of
course, the two end sliders are only connected to the
respective one nearest slider. A moving plate with a
constant velocity, Vp, pulls each slider through a leaf
spring of stiffness, Kl. Each slider rests in its equilib-
rium state at time t=0. The position of i-th slider (i=1,
…, N) is denoted by Xi, which is measured from its ini-
tial equilibrium position, along the horizontal axis rep-
resented by the coordinate y. Hence, Xi is in a function
of y and t. Each slider is exerted by a frictional force
between it and the moving plate. The frictional force is
usually a function of displacement, Xi, and particle ve-
locity, Vi (=dXi/dt), of the slider and shown by the func-
tion Fi(Xi;Vi), which has a static frictional force of
Fsi=Fi(Xi;0) at rest. The equation of motion is
m(∂2Xi/∂t
2)=Kc(Xi+1-2Xi+Xi-1)-Kl(Xi-Vpt)-Fi(Xi;Vi) (1)
In Equation (1), there is an implicate parameter ‘a’
which is the space between two sliders in the equilib-
rium state. The ratio κ=Kc/Kl has been defined by Wang
[1995] to be the stiffness ratio of the system. This ratio
represents the level of conservation of energy in the
system. Larger κ is equivalent to stronger coupling be-
Jeen-Hwa WANG
2
FIGURE 1. An N-degree-of-freedom dynamical spring-slider sys-
tem.
tween two sliders than between a slider and the moving
plate, thus leading to a smaller loss of energy through
the leaf spring or a higher level of conservation of en-
ergy in the system, yet opposite for smaller κ. Since the
fault system is dynamically coupling with dissipation, κ
must be a non-zero finite value. The Vp is in the order
of ~10-12 m/s. The moving plate pulls a slider and thus
gradually increases the elastic force, KcVpt, on it. When
KcVpt is slightly higher than static frictional force, Fsi,
at the i-th slider, the two forces are cancelled out each
other and can be ignored during ruptures. After a slider
moves, Fsi drops to Fdi (i.e., the dynamic frictional
force).
2.2 FRICTION
The frictional force between two contact planes is a
very complicated physical process. Laboratory experi-
ments have exhibited time-dependent static frictional
strength of rocks [Dieterich, 1972] and velocity-depen-
dent dynamic friction [Dieterich, 1979; Shimamoto,
1986]. Dieterich [1979] and Ruina [1983] proposed em-
pirical, rate- and state-dependent friction laws. The
detailed description of friction laws and the debates
concerning the laws and their application to earthquake
dynamics can be found in some articles [e.g., Marone,
1998; Wang, 2009; Bizzarri and Cocco, 2006a;
Bizzari 2011].
Several simple friction laws have been taken to the-
oretically and numerically study earthquake dynamics
[see Wang, 2016]. The laws are: the velocity-dependent,
weakening-hardening friction law [Burridge and
Knopoff, 1967]; the slip-dependent friction law [Cao
and Aki, 1984/85]; the nonlinear VW friction law [Carl-
son and Langer, 1989a,b; Carlson, 1991; Carlson et al.,
1991; and Beeler et al., 2008]; and the piece-wise, lin-
ear velocity-weakening and weakening-hardening fric-
tion [Wang, 1995, 1996]. Purely velocity-dependent
friction could yield unphysical phenomena and mathe-
matically ill-posed problems as pointed out by
Madariaga and Cochard [1994]. Ohnaka [2003] stressed
that the pure velocity-dependent friction law is not a
one-valued function of velocity. The problem has been
deeply discussed by Bizzarri [2011]. Nevertheless, for a
purpose of comparison the single-valued linear veloc-
ity-dependent friction law is still considered below.
Friction is an important factor in controlling earth-
quake dynamics. Based on the 1-D BK model in the
presence of linear VW friction with a decreasing rate,
rw, of friction force with velocity, Wang [1996] found
three types of rupture propagation: (1) subsonic type
with rw>2(Klm)
1/2; (2) sonic type with rw=2(Klm)
1/2; and
(3) supersonic type with rw<2(Klm)
1/2. Supersonic-type
ruptures are non-causal, because vR is greater than the
sound speed. Knopoff et al. [1992] stated that the sys-
tem is asymptotic to dispersive-free elasticity in the
continuum limit when rw=2(Klm)
1/2. They also found
that large rw is more capable of generating large events
than small rw. Carlson and Langer [1989a,b] used
F(v)=1/(v+vc) where vc is the characteristic velocity.
The related decreasing rate is 1/vc(1+v/vc)
2 with the val-
ues in the range of from 1 to 0 when vc varies from 0
to ∞. Hence, their friction law basically exhibits super-
sonic behavior with rw<2(Klm)
1/2, and thus is poten-
tially capable of producing very large events. Wang
[1997] also stressed the effect of frictional healing on
earthquake ruptures. Several authors [Nur, 1978; Carl-
son and Langer, 1989a,b; Carlson, 1991; Carlson et al.,
1991; Knopoff et al.,1992; Rice, 1993; Wang and
Hwang, 2001] stressed the influence on earthquake rup-
tures due to heterogeneous fault strengths on the fault.
Carlson and her co-workers emphasized that de-local-
ized events can be generated when the friction strengths
over the fault plane is uniform.
In this study, I will analytically study the frictional
effects caused by VW friction or SW friction on the
generation of slip pulses by using the 1-D BK model. In
order to perform analytic manipulation, only the linear
laws are taken into account. The SW friction law (see
Figure 2a) is:
F(X)=Fo(1- X/Xc) (2)
where X and Xc are, respectively, the displacement and
the characteristic distance. The VW friction law (see Fig-
ure 2b) is:
F(V)=Fo(1- V/Vc) (3)
where V=dX/dt is the velocity and Vc is the character-
istic velocity. The breaking strengths are uniform over
the model. This means that only steady travelling waves
are taken into account.
3
AN ANALYTIC STUDY OF SLIP PULSES
FIGURE 2. (a) For linear, slip-weakening friction law: F(X)=1-
X/Xc (Xc=characteristic displacement) and (b) for lin-
ear, velocity-weakening friction law: F(V)=1-V/Vc (Vc
=characteristic velocity).
Jeen-Hwa WANG
4
4. ANALYTICAL MANIPULATION
4.1 EQUATION OF MOTION
Define xi=Xi-Vpt. This gives Xi=xi+Vpt and
Vi=dXi/dt=dxi/dt+Vp=vi+Vp. Hence, Equation (1) becomes
m(∂2xi /∂t
2)=Kc(xi +1-2xi +xi -1)-Klxi -Fi(xi +Vpt;vi +Vp) (4)
After a slider moves, Vpt and Vp can be neglected
because of Vpt<Δ,
Equation (7) can work only for u<Δ. When the driving
force reaches the static strength of the friction whose val-
ue is unit in Equation (7), stability at the slider is
determined by the competition between the rate of
friction |∂Fstrength/∂u|=1/Δ and the rate of stress-relax-
ation between the slider and the leap spring
|∂Fstress/∂u|=|∂[h2(∂2u/dξ2)-u]/∂u|=|h2∂(∂2u/dξ2)/∂u-1|
at u=0. With the condition 1-1/Δ>|∂[h2(∂2u/dξ2)-u]/∂u-1|,
we have |∂Fstrength/∂u|> |∂Fstress/∂u|. This means that sta-
ble motions cannot exist, and is in contrast with the
known source time function for dynamic ruptures
where an initial acceleration phase should exist. This again
makes Equation (7) work only when u<Δ. Under SW
regime, Equation (7) means that max{xp}=D0/γ
2=Xc/(Δ-1).
This means Δ>1.
To solve Equation (7), the Laplace Transformation
(LT, denoted by L), which can be seen in numerous text-
books [e.g., Papoulis, 1962], is used to transform it to a
different form. The LT of Equation (7) is
h2∂2U/∂ξ2+(s2+1-Δ)U=1/s (8)
The solution of U includes the complementary solu-
tion, Uc, and particular solution, Up, that is, U=Uc+Up.
According to the method given in Johnson and Kioke-
meister [1968], the solution of Equation (8) is
U(ξ,s)=C1e
-ψξ/h+C2e
ψξ/h-1/sψ2 (9)
where ψ=(s2+1-Δ-1)1/2.
There are two types of waves from Equation (9): The
first one is the travelling wave represented by the first
term along the +ξ direction and the second one along
the -ξ direction in its right-handed-side, i.e.,
Uc(ξ,s)=C1e
-ψξ/h+C2e
ψξ/h. The second one is the oscilla-
tion at a site given by the third term, i.e., Up(ξ,s)=-1/sψ
2.
The second term of the first type with ξ<0 can be re-
written as e-ψ|ξ|/h. The Inverse Laplace Transformation
(ILT, denoted by L1) of Uc(ξ,s) with |ξ|/h>0 is
uc(ξ,τ)=C{1-γ(|ξ|/h)J1[γ(τ
2-(|ξ|/h)2)1/2]/
(10)
[τ2-(|ξ|/h)2]1/2}H(τ-|ξ|/h)
where C=C1 or C2, γ=(1-Δ
-1)1/2, J1[…] is the first-order
Bessel function, and H(τ-|ξ|/h) is the unit step function
(H(z)=0 as z<0 and H(z)=1 as z≥0) representing a trav-
elling plane wave. Since τ=ω0t and ξ=y/D0 are, respec-
tively, the normalized time and normalized rupture dis-
tance, h=vR/D0ω0 is the normalized rupture velocity.
When the rupture propagates from 0 to ξL, which is the
normalized rupture length and equal to L/D0 (L=the
rupture length), the normalized duration time is τD=ξL/h,
and thus the duration time is TD=τD/ω0=ξL/ω0h, thus
giving TD=ξL/ω0h=(L/D0)/ω0(vR/D0ω0)=L/vR.
Let tr be the arrival time of the travelling wave at a
site y, that is, tr=|y|/vR. Substituting uc(ξ,τ)=xc(y,t)/D0,
ξ=y/D0, τ=ω0t, and tr=|y|/vR into Equation (10) gives
xc(y,t)=CD0{1-(γω0tr)[γω0(t
2-tr
2)1/2]]/
(11)
(t2-tr
2)1/2}H[ω0(t-tr)]
Equation (11) shows a propagating wave which is
usually represented by a function of the form
G(t-|y|/vR), where t’=t-|y|/vR is known as the retarded
time for situations where causality holds [e.g., Perrin et
al., 1995; Nielsen et al., 2000]. The rise time, TR, is mea-
sured from t’=0 or t=tr=|y|/v to larger t’=t* when the
wave amplitude and the particle velocity reach their re-
spective peak values. The quantities inside {…} multi-
plied by CD0 of Equation (11) show the wave amplitude.
In order to further understand the properties of Equa-
tion (11), we only need to examine the function Ss(y,t)
=1-(γω0tr)J1[γω0(t
2-tr
2)1/2]/(t2-tr
2)1/2. Define θ to be
γω0(t
2-tr
2)1/2, and thus Ss(y,t) can be represented by 1-
(γ2ω0tr)J1(θ)/θ. When t=tr, θ=0 and J1(θ)=0. This makes
the value of J1(θ)/θ be indefinite. From the l’Hospital the-
orem [see Johnson and Kiokemeister, 1968], we have
lim
θ→0[J1(θ)/θ]=limθ→0 [dJ1(θ)/dθ]=limθ→0[J0(θ)-J1(θ)/θ].
According to the recurrence relation of Bessel functions
[Abramowitz and Stegun, 1972]: J1(θ)/θ=[J0(θ)-J2(θ)]/2,
we have lim
θ→0[J1(θ)/θ]=1/2 because of J0(θ)=1 and
J2θ)=0 when θ=0. Hence, xc(y,0)=CD0/2 and C=2xc(y,0)/D0.
The value of constant C depends on the initial value of
xc(y,0). The waveform xc(y,0) appears before the main rup-
ture and can behaves like the nucleation phase. From the
observations, they are very small [Beroza and Ellsworth,
1996; Ellsworth and Beroza, 1995,1998; Mori and
Kanamori, 1996; Wang, 2017]. This suggests
xc(y,0)=CD0/2<<1, and thus C could be small. The first-
order Bessel function J1(θ) is positive, but vibrates and
decreases with increasing θ, and (t2-tr
2)-1/2 or θ-1 also de-
cays fast with time when t>tr.
From TR=t*-tr, t* is the time when Ss(y,t) reaches its
peak value. This time is commonly calculated from the
necessary condition, i.e., dSs(y,t)/dt=0. This can be ob-
tained by taking dSs(y,t)/dt=[dSs(θ)/dθ]dθ/dt=0. Since
dθ/dt=γω0(t
2-tr
2)-1/2 cannot be zero when t>tr, we only
need dSs(θ)/dθ=0 or d[J1(θ)/θ]/dθ=J0(θ)-J1(θ)/θ=0. The
condition of dSs(θ)/dθ=0 at θ*=γω0(t*
2-tr
2)-1/2 leads to
the following equality: J0(θ*)-J1(θ*)/θ*=0. Actually, nu-
merous values of θ* can make this equality hold.
Among them, the first value is 1.975 [Abramowitz and
Stegun, 1972], thus giving γω0(t*
2-tr
2)1/2=1.975 and
t*=(tr
2+3.901/γω0)
1/2. This makes TR be t*-tr=tr{[1+
3.901/(γω0tr)
2]1/2-1}. Figure 4 demonstrates the plots of
TR versus tr for various values of γ, and ω0: (a) for
γ=0.1, 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 (from top to bottom) when
ω0=1 Hz; and (b) for ω0=0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Hz
(from top to bottom) when γ=1. Obviously, TR decreases
rapidly with increasing tr, thus meaning that TR de-
creases when the slip pulse propagates along the fault.
It is interesting to investigate the variation in Ss(y,t*)
with y=vRtr. Inserting t* into Ss(y,t) leads to Ss(y,t*)=1-
γω0trJ
1[γω0(t*
2-tr
2)1/2]/(t*2-tr
2)1/2. Hence, Ss(y,t*)=1-
γω0trJ
1{γω0[tr
2+3.901(γω0)
-2-tr
2]1/2}/[tr
2+3.901(γω0)
-2
-tr
2]1/2| due to t*=(tr
2+3.901/γ2ω0
2)1/2 as mentioned
above. This gives Ss(y,t*)=1-(γω0)
2(|y|/vR)
J1(1.975)/1.975, where 3.9011/2=1.975, and thus
Ss(y,t*)=1-0.294(γω0)
2(|y|/vR) because of J1(1.975)=
0.5782 [see Abramowitz and Stegun, 1972]. When
Ss(y,t*)=0, we have 0.293(γω0)2(|y|/vR)=1. This gives
|y|=yc=3.413vR/(γω0)
2 and tc=yc/vR=3.413/(γω0)
2, where
tc is tr related to yc. Clearly, the value of yc (>0) is a
function of vR, γ, and ω0. Hence, Ss(y,t*) changes from
positive (when |y|yc
or tr >tc) by passing through zero (when |y|=yc or tr =tc).
Figure 3a displays an example of a normalized
waveform Ss(y,t)/Ssmax, where Ssmax is the value of
Ss(y,t) at t* as defined before in the figure, of the rup-
ture wave having a propagation velocity of vR=2 km/sec
and the predominant angular frequency of ω0=1 Hz at
a position on the y-axis when the wave propagates with
a travelling time tr=3.607 sec under the action of slip-
weakening friction force with γ=0.9. This plot shows a
5
AN ANALYTIC STUDY OF SLIP PULSES
FIGURE 3. Figure shows Ss(y,t)/Ssmax (Ssmax=Ss(y,t*)) and
Ss(y,t)/Ssvmax (Ssvmax=Sv(y,t*)) at y=vRtr with vR=2
km/sec and tr=3.607 sec: (a) for Ss(yy,t)/Ssmax with
γ=0.9 and ω0=1.0 Hz; and (b) for Sv(y,t)/Ssvmax with
σ=0.9 and ω0=1.0 Hz.
pulse-like wave with short TR. Since the value of tc of
this case is 4.216 sec, the related value of t*, which is
not displayed in Figure 3a, is positive as expected be-
cause of tr=3.607 sec1
sec, which appears very soon after an earthquake starts
to rupture. Since the slip pulses have frequencies in a
small range of 0.5 to 2 Hz, ω0 is not the main factor.
Since the value of γ varies in a large range from 0+ to
1, γ must be the main factor in controlling the slip pulse.
Considering an example of a slip pulse with ω0=1 Hz
and γ=1, we have (1+3.901/tr
2)1/2<1.3. When tr >2.378
sec, the inequality TR/TD<0.3 always holds and thus the
slip pulse appears. Figure 6 displays the plots of tr ver-
sus γ for ω0=0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Hz (from top to
bottom). The area between the curve and vertical line
denotes the solution regime. Clearly, tr decreases with
increasing ω0. The example shown in Figure 3a can
meet the condition. Figure 5 displays the plots of TR/TD
versus tr with vR=2 km/sec for various values of γ, ω0,
and L: (a) for γ=0.1, 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 (from top to bot-
tom) when L=50 km and ω0=1 Hz; (b) for ω0=0.1, 0.2,
0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Hz (from top to bottom) when L=50
km and γ=1; and (c) for L=10, 30, 50, 70, 100 km (from
top to bottom) when γ=1 and ω0=1 Hz. Obviously, TR/TD
decreases very rapidly with increasing tr, thus meaning
that TR decreases when the slip pulse propagates along
the fault. Meanwhile, TR also decreases when γ, ω0, and
L increase.
The third term of Equation (9), i.e., Up(ξ,s)=-1/s(s
2+1-
Δ-1), is not a function of locality and thus only represents
the oscillations at all sites on the fault. But, it is still sig-
nificant to examine if it behaves like a pulse-like oscil-
lation or not. Its ILT is up(ξ,τ)=L
1[Up(ξ,s)]=[1-cos(γτ)]/2γ.
The solution exists when Δ>1. For Δ>1, we have
up(ξ,τ)=[1-cos(γτ)]/2γ=sin
2 (γτ/2)/γ2 (13)
The particular solution up(ξ,τ) comes from the ILT of
-1/s(s2+1-Δ-1). Equation (8) leads to h2∂2U/∂ξ2=-(s2+1-
Δ-1)U+1/s, in which -(s2+1-Δ-1)U behaves like the LT of
an elastic force and 1/s is the LT of 1 (see Equation (8))
normalized from the static friction force, F0. When
h2∂2U/∂ξ2=0, i.e., the divergence of U along the ξ-axis
is zero, we have (s2+1-Δ-1)U+1/s. This indicates a bal-
Jeen-Hwa WANG
6
FIGURE 4. The plots of TR versus tr for various values of γ and
ω0: (a) for γ=0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 (from bottom
to top) when ω0=1 Hz; and (c) for ω0=0.1, 0.2, 0.5,
1.0, and 2.0 Hz (from bottom to top) when γ=1.
FIGURE 5. The plots of TR/TD versus tr for various values of γ, ω0,
and L: (a) for γ=0.1, 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 (from top to
bottom) when L=50 km and ω0=1 Hz; (b) for ω0=0.1,
0.2, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Hz (from top to bottom) when
L=50 km and γ=1; and (c) for L=10, 30, 50, 70 km.
ance between the elastic force and the static friction
force and its ILT shows a vibration on the fault. The
two forces behave like pre-existing forces on the fault
plane. Since the two forces are of locality- indepen-
dence, the related particular solution is also of local-
ity-independence. Inserting Equation (13) into
Equation (7) results in ∂2U/∂τ2=-(1-Δ-1)up-1. Since the
initial value of up is zero, we have ∂
2u/∂τ2=-1, thus
implying a negative initial acceleration at a slider.
There are two cases in Equation (13): one with 1-Δ-1<0
or Δ<1 and the other with 1-Δ-1>0 or Δ>1. The first
case is sin[(1-Δ-1)1/2τ/2]= i sinh[(Δ-1-1)1/2τ/2], and thus
sin2[(1-Δ-1)1/2τ/2]=-sinh2[(Δ-1-1)1/2τ/2]. This solution
exhibits a negative hyperbolic sine-type function,
which cannot be a common wave, and can be ignored.
The second case represents a positive sine-type func-
tion and thus can represent a vibration at all sites be-
cause it is site-independent from Equation (13).
Replacing up(ξ,τ) by xp(y,t) and τ by ω0τ into Equation
(13) leads to
xp(x,t)=D0sin
2(γω0t/2)/γ
2 (14)
Define ω*=γω0/2=(1-Δ
-1)1/2ω0/2 to be the predom-
inant angular frequency of the oscillation, and thus
Tp=2π/ω* is its predominant period. This gives T0/Tp=
2/(1-Δ-1)1/2. The plot of T0/Tp versus Δ is shown in Fig-
ure 7a. T0/Tp increases with Δ. The increasing rate of
T0/Tp with Δ is high when Δ<2 and becomes low when
Δ>2.
Figure 8 shows the typical velocity waveform (in the
solid plus dotted curve) and the typical displacement
waveform (in the solid curve). Since the wave propa-
gates from -y to +y, it stops at the time instant when
v=0. In Figure 8, Tp is the period of velocity waveform.
Since TR≈Tp/2, the ratio of Tp over TD, i.e., Tp/TD, is a
good indication to show whether a slip pulse can ex-
ist or not. The ratio Tp/TD is 2T0(1-Δ
-1)-1/2/(L/vR)=2(1-
Δ-1)-1/2vRT0/L, where vRT0 denotes a characteristic dis-
tance of wave propagation in the natural period. For
real M≥6 earthquakes vR varies from 1.5 to 4 km/s, L
from 30 to 300 km, and T0 from 10
-1 to 10 sec. Figure
9 shows the plots of Tp/TD versus Δ: (a) for vRT0=0.5,
1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 km (from bottom to
top) when ω0L=80 km/s; and (b) for L=20, 40, 60, 80,
100, 120, 140, and 160 km (from top to bottom)
when vRT0=2 km.
As mentioned above, the quantitative criterion to
confirm the existence of a slip pulse is TR/TD<0.3.
Now, TR is almost equal to Tp. Hence, a pulse-like os-
cillation can exist when Tp/TD<0.3. In Figure 9, the
upper bound of Tp/TD is 0.3. Meanwhile, the solution
7
AN ANALYTIC STUDY OF SLIP PULSES
FIGURE 6. The plots of tr versus γ for ω0=0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0 and
2.0 Hz (from top to bottom) based on SW friction.
FIGURE 7. (a) The plots of T0/Tp versus Δ; and (b) the plots of
T0/Tp versus υ for SW friction. The vertical line shows
the value of Δ or υ at which the curve becomes flat.
FIGURE 8. The solid plus dotted curve represents the velocity
waveform and the solid curve denotes the displace-
ment waveform. Tp and TR are, respectively, the pre-
dominant period of the velocity waveform and the
rise time of displacement waveform.
exists only when Δ>2 (as displayed by a vertical line in
the figure). Obviously, the major portion of each curve
is below the upper bound, thus suggesting the exis-
tence of a pulse-like oscillation in the solution regime.
4.3 SOLUTIONS BASED ON VELOCITY-WEAKENING
FRICTION
The normalized VW friction law from Equation (3) is
φ(v)=1-v/υ where υ=Vc/D0ω0 is the dimensionless char-
acteristic velocity. Equation (6) becomes
∂2u/∂τ2=h2(∂2u/∂ξ2)-u-(1-v/υ) (15)
When v>υ, φ(v) is negative and unreasonable. Hence,
Equation (15) works only for v<υ. The LT of Equation
(15) is
s2U(ξ,s)=h2∂2U(ξ,s)/∂ξ2-U(ξ,s)-1/s+sU(ξ,s)/υ (16)
This gives
h2∂2U/∂ξ2-(s2+1)-sυ-1)U=1/s (17)
Let ζ=(s2+1-sυ-1)1/2. The general solution of Equa-
tion (17) is
U(ξ,s)=C1e
-ζξ/h+C2e
-ζξ/h-1/sζ2 (18)
There are two types of waves from Equation (18): the
first one is the travelling waves represented by the first
term (travelling along the positive direction along the ξ-
axis) and second term (travelling along the negative di-
rection along the ξ-axis) in its right-handed-side, i.e.,
Uc(ξ,s)=C1e
-ζξ/h+C2e
-ζξ/h, and the second one is the os-
cillation at site shown by the third term, i.e., Up(ξ,s)=
-1/sζ2. The second term of the first type of waves with
ξ<0 can be re-written as e-ζ|ξ|/h. The ILT of Uc(ξ,s), i.e.,
L1[Uc(ξ,s)] with |ξ|/h>0 is
uc(ξ,τ)=C{1-(σ|ξ|/h)eτ
/2υJ1[σ(τ
2-(|ξ|/h)2)1/2]/
(19)
(τ2-(|ξ|/h)2)1/2}H(τ-|ξ|/h)
where σ=(1-1/4υ2)1/2. Because of σ>0, 1-1/4υ2 must be
larger than 0 and thus υ>1/2. Equation (19) exhibits a
travelling plane wave. The quantities inside {...} before
H(τ-|ξ|/h) denote the wave amplitude. Unlike Equation
(9) for SW friction, this equation has an extra term eτ/2υ,
which increases exponentially with time. When the
wave propagates from 0 to ξL, the normalized duration
time is τD=ξL/h and thus the duration time is
TD=τD/ω0=ξL/ω0h=(L/D0)/ω0h. Let tr be the arrival time
when the rupture arrives at a site y, that is, tr=|y|/vR.
Substituting uc(ξ,τ)=xc(y,t)/D0, ξ=y/D0, τ=ω0t, tr=|y|/vR,
and ϖ=ω0/2υ into Equation (19) leads to
xc(x,t)=CDo{1-(σωotr)e
ϖtJ1[σωo(t
2-tr
2)1/2]/
(20)
(t2-tr
2)1/2}H[ωo(t-tr)]
When ϖ<<1 Hz, eϖt≈1 makes Equation (20) be sim-
ilar to Equation (9). The results are similar to those for
SW friction as mentioned above. This condition is
equivalent to ω0<<1 Hz or υ>>1. Since the wave with
ω0<<1 Hz is a very long wave, it cannot be a slip pulse.
When ϖ is not a small value, we examine the proper-
ties of xc(x,t) by using the function Sv(y,t)=1-
(σω0tr)e
ϖtJ1[σω0(t
2-tr
2)1/2]/(t2-tr
2)1/2. Define θ to be
σω0(t
2-tr
2)1/2. Sv(y,t) can be represented by 1-
(σ2ω0
2tr)e
ϖtJ1(θ)/θ. When t=tr, θ=0 and J1(θ)=0. This
leads to an indefinite value of J1(θ)/θ. Like the above-
mentioned mathematical manipulation for SW friction,
we have lim
θ→0[J1(θ)/θ]=1/2. Hence, xc(y,0)=CD0/2 and
C=2xc(y,0)/D0. As mentioned above, the value of con-
stant C depends on the initial value of xc(y,0) and thus
C must be in general small. The function J1(θ) is posi-
tive, but vibrates and decreases with increasing θ, and
(t2-tr
2)-1/2 or θ-1 also decays fast with time when t>tr.
The value of TR of a slip pulse at a site is measured
from the arrival time, tr, at a site to the time, t*, when
the amplitude of slip pulse reaches its peak value. This
gives TR=t*-tr. To obtain t*, we must calculate the time
when Sv(y,t) reaches its peak value from the necessary
condition: dSv(y,t)/dt=0. This can be obtained by taking
dSv(y,t)/dt=[dSv(θ)/dθ]dθ/dt=0. Since dθ/dt=t(t
2-tr
2)-1/2
cannot be zero when t>0, we only need to consider if
dSs(θ)/dθ equals zero. Mathematical manipulation leads
to dSv(θ)/dθ=-(σ
2ω0
2tr)e
ϖt{ϖJ1(θ)-[J0(θ)-J1(θ)/θ]}. From
Jeen-Hwa WANG
8
FIGURE 9. The plots of Tp/TD versus Δ: (a) for vRT0=0.5, 1.0, 1.5,
2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 km (from bottom to top)
when ω0L=80 km/s; and (b) for L=20, 40, 60, 80, 100,
120, 140, and 160 km (from top to bottom) when
vRT0=2 km.
the rule of Bessel functions that not any two Bessel
functions have the same zero, the function ϖJ1(θ)-[J0(θ)-
J1(θ)/θ] cannot be zero. When J1(θ)=0 at θ=θ*, J0(θ*) is
not zero. This results in ϖJ1(θ*)-[J0(θ*)-J1(θ*)/θ*]=
-J0(θ*)≠0. When J0(θ)=0 at θ=θ*, J1(θ*) is not zero. This re-
sults in ϖJ1(θ*)-[J0(θ*)-J1(θ*)/θ*]=(ϖ+1/θ*)J1(θ*)≠0. Mean-
while, eϖt is equal to 1 at t=0 and larger than 1 when
t>0. Hence, dSv(θ)/dθ cannot be zero and there is not
an extremum for Sv(y,t). This cannot yield TR/TD<0.3
and thus slip pulses do not exist for VW friction. Unlike
Ss(y,t*), Sv(y,t) does change from positive to negative
passing through zero. An example of a normalized
waveform Sv(y,t)/Svmax, where Svmax is the maximum
value of Sv in the figure, of the rupture wave having a
propagation velocity of vR=2 km/sec and the predomi-
nant angular frequency of ω0=1 Hz at a position on the
y-axis when the wave propagates with a travelling time
tr=3.607 sec under the action of velocity-weakening
friction force with σ=0.9. This plot which shows an in-
crease in the amplitude with time, thus suggesting a
crack-like rupture with long TR. Hence, SV friction can
yield pulse-like ruptures only when υ>>1 or Vc>>1 and
in general produces crack-like ruptures.
The third term of Equation (18), i.e., Up(ξ,s)=
-1/s(s2+1-sυ-1), is not a function of locality and thus
only represents the oscillations at all sites on the fault.
But, it is still significant to examine if it behaves like a
pulse-like oscillation or not. The function Up(ξ,s) can
be re-written as -1/s-[1-(1-4υ2)1/2]/2(1-4υ2)1/2(s-b)-
[1+(1-υ2)1/2]/2(1-υ2)1/2(s-c), where b=(1/2υ)[1+(1-
4υ2)1/2], and c=(1/2υ)[1-(1-υ2)1/2]. The solution does
not exist when 1-4υ2=0 or υ=0.5. When 1-4υ2≠0 or
υ≠0.5, L-1[Up(ξ,s)] is
up(ξ,τ)=—{1+(e
τ/2v/e)[eτ/2v-eτ/2v+eτ/2v)/2] (21)
where e=(1-4υ2)1/2. For uc(ξ,τ),υ must be larger than 0.5
as mentioned above. Let q=(4υ2-1)1/2=ie. Consider a
right triangle with three sides: the longest side with a
length of R=(12+q2)1/2=2υ, and the other two with
lengths of q and 1, respectively. The angle between the
longest side and the side with L=1 unit is set to be θ.
Hence, we have cos(θ)=1/2υ, sin(θ)=q/2υ, and tan(θ)=q.
The tangent term gives θ=tan-1(q). Define
sin(qτ/2υ)=(eiqτ/2υ-eiqτ/2υ)/2i and cos(qτ/2υ)=(eiqτ/2υ+
e-iqτ/2υ)/2. Replacing up(ξ,τ) by xp(y,t)/D0, ξ by y/D0, τ
by ω0t, and ϖ=ω0/2υ into Equation (21) leads to
xp(y,t)=-Do[1+e
ϖtsin(qϖt-θ)/sin(θ)] (22)
Obviously, the initial value of xp(y,t) is 0 when t=0.
This xp(y,t) shows a sine-function-type oscillation at a
site. Unlike Equation (14), this equation has an extra
term eϖt, which increases with time. When t≤0, xp(y,t) is
zero and thus Equation (22) becomes xp(y,t)H(t). Define
ω*=qϖ=(1-1/4υ2)1/2ω0 and Tp=2π/ω* to be, respec-
tively, the predominant angular frequency and the pre-
dominant period of the oscillation.
From Equation (22), the particle velocity is
dxp(y,t)/dt=-Doϖe
ϖtsin(qϖt)/cos(θ)sin(θ)] and the parti-
cle acceleration is d2xp(y,t)/dt
2=-D0ϖ
2eϖt,sin(qϖt,+θ)/
cos2(θ)sin(θ)]. When qϖt+θ=π, we have d2xp(y,t)/dt
2=0.
Hence, max{dxp(y,t)/dt}=D0ϖe
(π-t)/q. This holds before
the first zero-crossing of dxp/dt. Hence, the condition
of D0ϖe
(π-t)/q1.744. Although Tp
is determined by T0 (0.11.744 (as displayed by
a vertical line in the figure). Obviously, the major por-
tion of each curve is below the upper bound, thus sug-
gesting the existence of a pulse-like oscillation in the
solution regime.
5. DISCUSSION
The theoretical analyses for the conditions of gener-
ating slip pulses are made based on the continuous form
of the 1-D BK model in the presence of the linear fric-
tion laws: f(u)=1-u/Δ for SW friction as well as f(v)=1-
v/υ for VW friction. The parameters Δ and υ are,
respectively, the characteristic distance and the charac-
teristic velocity of the respective law. First, it is neces-
9
AN ANALYTIC STUDY OF SLIP PULSES
sary to consider physical implications of the results. For
SW friction, variable transformation of w=u+γ2 re-
duces Equation (7) to the Klein-Gordon equation
[Polyanin, 2002]: ∂2w/∂τ2=h2(∂2w/∂ξ2)-γ2w. This im-
plies that the strength of the leaf spring has a factor of
γ2 due to presence of friction, so that γ2 per stored en-
ergy within the leaf spring is conserved and 1-γ2 per
the energy is dissipated. We can see that 1-γ2=D0/Xc is
a ratio of actual frictional work dissipated due to slid-
ing from an area under SW line in Figure 2a. Since the
stiffness of a leaf spring multiplied by γ-2 controls en-
ergetics, dependence of behavior of the system on k/γ2
should be discussed.
For VW friction, the restoring force should always
have the same sign for stability of the system. Variable
transformation of w=u+1 reduces Equation (15) to
∂2w/∂τ2=h2(∂2w/∂ξ2)-w+w’/υ, where w’=dw/dτ. With-
out loss of generality, the restoring force can be as-
sumed as negative, i.e., -w+w’/υ≤0. Let F[w] be the
Fourier transformation of w. Then the following holds:
so that should be required, otherwise the friction is not
restoring force but repulsive force in high-frequency
content. Such a compact supported spectrum in fre-
quency domain is, however, not able to be a compact
supported signal in time domain.
There are the complementary solution, xc(y,t) and
particular solution, xp(y,t), of the equation of motion.
For SW friction, the function xc(y,t) shows a slip pulse
when 1>γ=(1-Δ-1)1/2>0. TR and TR/TD both decrease
rapidly with increasing tr, thus meaning that TR and
TR/TD are both reduced when the slip pulse propagates
along the fault. This means that the slip pulse is gen-
erated when the ruptures are far away from the nucle-
ation point. Meanwhile, TR and TR/TD also both
decrease when γ, ω0, and L increase and when vR is re-
duced. Higher γ associated with a low decreasing rate
of friction with slip is easier to produce a slip pulse
than lower γ related to a higher decreasing rate. A de-
creases in TR and TR/TD with increasing ωo means that
slip pulses should have higher angular frequencies and
cannot be long-period rupture waves. The decreases in
TR and TR/TD with increasing L mean that a slip pulse
can be more easily produced in a long fault than in a
short one. Hence, it would be difficult to detect a slip
pulse on a short fault. Equation (21) shows that lower
vR can more easily result in small TR and TR/TD than
higher vR. This indicates that the slip pulse has a rela-
tively slow propagation speed. However, vR is less im-
portant than other parameters, because the value of
vRtr/L in Equation (21) is always smaller than 1.
For VW friction when υ>>1; while it shows a crack-
like rupture for VW friction when υ is not too big. The
present results suggest that unlike Heaton [1990], SW
friction is easier to produce a slip pulse than VW fric-
tion. Although Perrin et al. [1995] assumed that not all
friction laws result in steady travelling pulses, the pre-
sent result exhibits that the two types of friction in use
can generate a slip pulse under their respective ranges
of model parameters.
For the particular solution, the ratio of Tp over TD
of a rupture is a good indication to show the possible
existence of a slip pulse, because the TR of slip at a site
is shorter than Tp. For SW friction with Δ>1, the solu-
tion clearly shows oscillations with a predominant pe-
riod of Tp. Computational results in Figure 9 reveal a
decrease in Tp/TD with increasing Δ. Longer (shorter) Δ
means a slower (faster) decay of friction with slip. A
slower decay of friction with increasing slip is easier to
generating a pulse-like oscillation than a faster decay
of friction. Based on the definition of Δ=Xc>D0, Δ>1
gives Xc>D0. This suggests that when the characteris-
tic length is longer than the characteristic distance, the
pulse-like oscillation can be generated. Figure 9a
shows Tp/TD<0.4 (or TR/TD<0.2) when Δ>1.2. Figure 9b
shows that except for L=20 km, Tp/TD<0.4 (or
TR/TD<0.2) when Δ>1.5. Theoretical results suggest
that Δ>1.5 is a significant condition for generating a
pulse-like oscillation at a site under SW friction.
For VW friction, when υ>0.5 this solution shows a
sine-function oscillation at a site. Because of
υ=Vc/D0ω0, the inequality υ>0.5 leads to Vc>D0ω0/2.
This means that a pulse-like oscillation at a site can be
generated when Vc>D0ω0/2. Since Vc is the character-
istic velocity of VW friction law, higher Vc indicates a
slower decay of friction with velocity. The present re-
sult suggests that a slower decay of friction is more
capable of generating the pulse-like oscillation than a
Jeen-Hwa WANG
10
FIGURE 10. The plots of Tp/Tp versus υ: (a) for vRT0=0.5, 1.0, 1.5,
2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 km (from bottom to top)
when L=80 km; and (b) for L=20, 40, 60, 80, 100,
120, 160, and 180 km (from top to bottom) when
vRT0=2.0 km.
faster one. Unlike the pulse-like oscillation produced
by SW friction, the amplitude of pulse-like oscillation
generated by VW friction could increase with time due
to an extra term eτ/2υ. This suggests that VW friction
can cause higher wave energy than SW friction.
Smaller υ will cause a faster increase in wave ampli-
tude than larger υ. Figure 10 reveals a decrease in
Tp/TD with increasing υ. Higher (lower) Vc means a
slower (faster) decay of friction with velocity. Clearly,
a slower decay of friction with velocity is easier to
generating a slip pulse than a faster decay of friction.
Because of υ=Vc/D0ω0, υ>1 means Vc>D0ω0/2. When
the characteristic velocity of the model is higher than
the rate of a slider in the characteristic distance, a
pulse-like oscillation can be generated. Figure 10
shows TR/TD<0.4 (or TR/TD<0.2) when υ>0.6. Hence,
υ>0.6 could be a significant condition for generating
a pulse-like oscillation at a site under VW friction.
In addition, Figures 9a and 10a both show a de-
crease in Tp/TD with decreasing vRT0, which is the char-
acteristic rupture distance. Lower vR is more capable of
generating a pulse-like oscillation than higher vR.
Meanwhile, shorter T0 is more capable of generating a
pulse-like oscillation than longer T0. Because of T0=
(m/Kl)
1/2/2π=(ρA/κl)
1/2/2π, strong coupling (denoted by
κl) between the moving plate and a fault system is ca-
pable of producing a pulse-like oscillation than weak
coupling. On the other hand, lighter or lower-density
fault rocks are easier to producing a pulse-like oscilla-
tion than heavier or higher-density fault rocks. Figures
9b and 10b exhibit a decrease in Tp/TD with increasing
L, that is, longer L is more capable of generating a
pulse-like oscillation than shorter L. However, the dif-
ference in the values of Tp/TD between two sequential
rupture lengths decreases with increasing L. This means
that when L is longer than a certain value, the effect of
rupture length on Tp/TD is reduced. Of course, the L-ef-
fect also depends on vR and T0.
A comparison between Figure 9 and Figure 10 shows
that Tp/TD is in general smaller for VW friction than for
SW friction, thus suggesting that the former is more ca-
pable of producing a pulse-like oscillation at site than
the latter. In addition, under VW friction a pulse-like
oscillation can be produced even though L is short.
Based on Equation (7), Wang [2016] obtained that
the complementary solution exhibits ω-1 scaling in the
whole range of ω for SW friction. But, for the partic-
ular solution SW friction results in spectral amplitudes
only at three values of ω. Based on Equation (15),
Wang [2016] obtained that for VW friction with υ>0.5,
the spectral amplitude versus ω exhibits almost ω0
scaling when ω is lower than the corner angular fre-
quency, ωc, which is independent on υ and increases
with ω0. When ω>ωc, the spectral amplitude mono-
tonically decreases with ω following a line with a slope
value of -1, which is the scaling exponent. This again
confirms that crack-like rupture is generated by VW
friction. Hence, it is easier to yield slip pulses from SW
friction than from VW friction.
6. CONCLUSIONS
Seismological observations show the existence of
slip pulses with TR/TD<0.3. For the present model, there
are complementary and particular solutions of the
equation of motion. For SW friction, the complemen-
tary solution shows a slip pulse when γ>1. TR and
TR/TD both decrease rapidly with increasing tr, thus
meaning that TR and TR/TD both decrease when the slip
pulse propagates along the fault. TR and TR/TD also
both decrease when γ, ω0, vR, and L increase. For VW
friction, a slip pulse is yielded when υ>>1 or Vc>>1
and the crack-like ruptures is generated when υ is not
too big. When υ>>1 or Vc>>1, the results produced by
VW friction are essentially similar with those by SW
friction. For the two types of friction, a slower decay
of friction is more capable of generating slip pulses
than a faster one. Lower vR is more capable of gener-
ating a slip pulse than higher vR. Longer L is more ca-
pable of generating slip pulses than shorter L. Of
course, the importance of vR and L are lower than γ
and ω0.
For the particular solution, the ratio of predominant
period (Tp) of oscillations at a site is slightly longer
than TR, and thus Tp/TD, is a good indication to show
the existence of pulse-like oscillations at a site because
of TR1.6 (or Xc>1.6D0)
and for VW friction when υ>0.5 (or Vc>0.5D0ω0).
Tp/TD decreases with increasing Δ for SW friction and
with increasing υ for VW friction. For the two types of
friction, T0/TD and Tp/TD both decreases when vR and
L increase. For the two types of friction, a slower decay
of friction is more capable of triggering pulse-like os-
cillations at a site than a faster one. Shorter T0 is more
capable of generating pulse-like oscillations than
longer T0. In other words, strong coupling between the
moving plate and a fault system is capable of produc-
ing a slip pulse than weak coupling. Lighter or lower-
density fault rocks are easier to producing pulse-like
oscillations than heavier or higher-density fault rocks.
Longer L is more capable of generating pulse-like os-
cillations than shorter L.
11
AN ANALYTIC STUDY OF SLIP PULSES
Acknowledgements. The author would like to thank Prof. A. Biz-
zarri (Editor of Annals of Geophysics) and an anonymous re-
viewer for their valuable comments and suggestions to help
him to substantially improve this article. This study was finan-
cially supported from Academia Sinica, the Ministry of Sciences
and Technology (Grant No.: MOST-106-2116-M-001-005), and the
Central Weather Bureau (Grant No.: MOTC-CWB-107-E-02).
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*CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Jeen-Hwa WANG,
Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica,
Nangang, Taipei,
Taiwan
email: jhwang@earth.sinica.edu.tw
© 2018 the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia.
All rights reserved.
Jeen-Hwa WANG
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