The close proximity of the Nicoya Peninsula to the Cocos-Caribbean Subduction zone plate boundary makes it a prime location to use GPS to study episodic tremor and slip. Nicoya Peninsula currently has operating networks of both continuous GPS (CGPS) and seismic stations designed to identify and characterize the pattern of episodic tremor and slip (ETS) events along the seismogenic zone under Costa Rica's Pacific Margin. The occurrence of slow slip events has been previously postulated in this region based on correlated fluid flow and seismic tremor events recorded near the margin wedge in 2000 and from sparse GPS observations in 2003. Paucity of data prevented details of these events from being resolved. In May 2007 a slow slip event was recorded on our densified GPS network. This slow slip event was also accompanied by seismic tremor, worked up by colleagues at the University of California - San Diego. I will present the GPS time series, correlated with the seismic tremor for the event in May 2007. I will also present the inferred pattern of slip on the plate interface from elastic half space inversion modeling compared with the tremor and Low Frequency Earthquake (LFE) locations. The geodetic slip and seismic tremor co-locate temporally very well. Spatially the seismic tremor and LFE locations are offset but not independent of both the up dip and down dip patches of geodetic slip. The identification of these slow slip events enhances our understanding of the nuances of the interseismic period. Previous studies of the interseismic strain accumulation patterns in the region of the Nicoya Peninsula have not accounted for the occurrence of slow slip, thus underestimating the magnitude of locking on the fault plane. My study resolves this bias by using our CGPS network to estimate the interseismic surface velocity field, accounting for the May 2007 slow slip event. I will present the results of this velocity field estimation and the results of inversions for locking patterns on the fault plane. My study has also elucidated a potential temporal variability in the locking pattern on the fault plane beneath Nicoya.

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第14163号 / 工博第2997号 / 新制||工||1445(附属図書館) / 26469 / UT51-2008-N480 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科材料工学専攻 / (主査)教授 落合 庄治郎, 教授 河合 潤, 准教授 奥田 浩司 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

Geostructures experience repetitive load cycles, which gradually affect their long-term performance. This thesis explores the long-term response of soils subjected to mechanical load-unload, heat-cool, freeze-thaw, and atmospheric pressure oscillations. The research methodology involves new instrumented cells (oedometer, temperature-controlled triaxial chamber, and pressure-controlled drying chamber), various geophysical monitoring methods (X-ray micro-CT, NMR, S-wave, and EM-waves), and simulations using discrete element modeling. Results show that soils subjected to repetitive mechanical or environmental loading experience shear and volumetric strain accumulation and changes in saturation (during barometric pressure cycles). In all cases, soils evolve towards an asymptotic terminal void ratio; the change in void ratio is pronounced when the soil exhibits grain-displacive ice formation during freeze-thaw cycles. The initial stress obliquity defines the shear strain response, which may be either shakedown -at low stress obliquity-, or ceaseless shear strain accumulation in ratcheting mode when the maximum stress obliquity approaches failure conditions. Finally, we provide simple engineering guidelines to estimate the long-term behavior of soils subjected to repetitive mechanical or environmental loading.

An earthquake is a mechanism of stress release along plate boundaries due to relative motion between the Earth's lithospheric blocks. The period in which stresses are accruing across the plate boundary is known as the interseismic portion of the earthquake cycle. This dissertation focuses on interseismic portion of the earthquake cycle to extract characteristics of fault, shear zone and rock properties. Global Positioning System (GPS) data are used to observe the pattern of deformation across two primarily strike-slip fault systems: the Carrizo Segment of the San Andreas Fault (SAF) and the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ). Two sets of GPS data are processed, analyzed and applied to analytic and numerical models describing the interseismic behavior of the earthquake cycle. The Carrizo segment is mature (i.e., had many earthquakes) and has juxtaposed terrains with varying rock properties laterally across the fault system. Lateral variations in rock properties affect the pattern of deformation around strike-slip faults and affect how surrounding rock deforms and if not considered may bias the interpretation of the faulted system. The Carrizo segment separates Franciscan terrain northeast of the fault from Salinian block to the southwest. GPS data are well fit to a model with a 15-25 km weak zone northeast of the Carrizo segment. The long-term slip rate estimated on the SAF is 34-38 mm/yr, with 2-4 mm/yr accommodated on faults to the west. The viscosity for the combined lower crust/upper mantle is estimated at 2-5x10^19 Pa s. This model is consistent with the distribution of rock type and corresponding laboratory data on their material properties, paleoseismic, seismic and magnetotelluric data. The ECSZ is a young (<10 >Myr) system of strike-slip faults including the Owens Valley - Airport Lake, Panamint Valley - Ash Hill - Hunter Mountain and Death Valley - Furnace Creek fault systems. The ECSZ study concentrates on fault evolution by finding the current position of maximum shear across the shear zone and estimating fault rates. Geologic studies suggest that the Death Valley - Furnace Creek fault system on eastern end of the ECSZ was the primary accommodator of slip early in the ECSZ history. This study suggests that the current locus of shear has shifted westward, and resides in the center of the ECSZ under the Panamint Valley - Ash Hill -Hunter Mountain fault system. The model dependent estimated geodetic rate of the Ash Hill - Panamint Valley -Hunter Mountain fault system (4.91-6.11 mm/yr) is faster than geologic estimates (1.6 - 4 mm/yr). The result is interpreted as a simplification of the ECSZ with time, combined with progressive westward migration of deformation. The best estimate for a combined rate across the shear zone is 10 mm/yr (20% of total Pacific-North America motion). The summation of rates obtained by this study is 49 mm/yr, well within estimates obtained by previous studies using independent techniques.

The formation of plastic strains in non-cohesive soils due to large number of loading cycles is a phenomenon of great importance in geotechnical and civil engineering. It constitutes a considerable cause for failures and deformations in various types of engineering applications including pavements. Strain accumulation due to cyclic loading has been studied for years through different models. This thesis reviews various models and focuses on the Bochum model through which, the most contributing soil and traffic parameters on permanent strains formation in pavement subgrades can be figured out. This represents the base for studying the serviceability of increasing the gross weights of vehicles that affect the behavior and size of cyclic loading. This was discussed through investigating the efficacy of increasing the number of vehicle axles and through increasing the vehicle gross weight while keeping the number of axles to check their impacts at the levels of strain formation in soil and consequently on its deformation. The results showed a considerable difference in settlements after changing the axle configurations of vehicles through increasing its number of axles. The work is expected to open a new area of scientific research in pavement designs seeking for ideal configurations of vehicle axles and to provide an advanced approach for studying soil deformations due to higher cyclic loadings.

In der Arbeit wird gezeigt, wie man die Bodensteifigkeit bei sehr kleinen Dehnungen sowie die Abnahme der Steifigkeit mit zunehmender Scherdehnung in Labor- und Feldversuchen ermitteln kann. Dazu werden typische Eigenschaften mineralischer und organischer Böden einschließlich Korrelationen zusammengestellt und wesentliche Unterschiede zum Bodenverhalten bei großen Dehnungen, insbesondere hinsichtlich der Steifigkeit und der Spannungsabhängigkeit aufgezeigt. Weiterhin wird dargelegt, wie man mit dem hypoplastischen Stoffgesetz mit intergranularen Dehnungen das Bodenverhalten bei kleinen Dehnungen wirklichkeitsnah erfassen kann und wie die Stoffparameter zu bestimmen sind. Für die realistische Erfassung des Bodenverhaltens infolge zyklischer Belastung einschließlich der Ausbildung von Hystereseschleifen wird eine Modifizierung des hypoplastischen Stoffgesetzes unter Einführung eines zusätzlichen Stoffparameters vorgenommen. Es wird gezeigt, wie dieser Parameter in zyklischen Laborversuchen bestimmt werden kann und wie damit die Akkumulation von Dehnungen bei drainierten Bedingungen bzw. von Porenwasserdrücken bei undrainierten Bedingungen zuverlässig prognostiziert werden kann. Anhand der dynamischen Beanspruchung eines Eisenbahndammes auf weichem, organischem Untergrund wird das modifizierte hypoplastische Stoffgesetz mit intergranularen Dehnungen für ein bodendynamisches Randwertproblem angewendet und gezeigt, dass damit das Bodenverhalten realistisch abgebildet werden kann. Die Berechnungsergebnisse zeigen eine gute Übereinstimmung mit Ergebnissen von Schwingungsmessungen und Langzeitverformungsmessungen. Es werden bodendynamische Berechnungen zur Wellenausbreitung sowohl eindimensional als auch im Halbraum mit unterschiedlichen Stoffgesetzen geführt und Vergleiche mit analytischen Lösungen vorgenommen. Dazu wird gezeigt, welche Anforderungen an numerische Berechnungen zur Wellenausbreitung, insbesondere hinsichtlich Wahl der Zeitschritte, Elementgröße bzw. Knotenabstände, Größe des FE-Netzes und Modellierung der FE-Ränder erforderlich sind.:1 Einführung 2 Bodensteifgkeit 2.1 Defnition der Scherdehnung und der Schubspannung 2.2 Versuchstechnische Ermittlung der Bodensteifgkeiten 2.3 Ermittlung der Bodensteifgkeiten im Feld 2.4 Ermittlung der Bodensteifgkeiten im Labor 2.5 Bodensteifgkeit bei sehr kleinen Dehnungen 2.6 Abnahme der Steifigkeit mit zunehmender Scherdehnung 2.7 Bodenverhalten und Scherdehnungsgrenzen 2.8 Weitere bodendynamische Eigenschaften 3 Hypoplastisches Stogesetz 3.1 Allgemeine Formulierung der Hypoplastizität 3.2 Intergranulare Dehnungen 3.3 Bereich mit sehr kleinen Dehnungen 3.4 Bereich mit kleinen bis mittleren Dehnungen 3.5 Vergleich der Ergebnisse mit dem HS-Small-Modell 3.6 Zusammenfassung und Wertung der Ergebnisse 4 Numerische Berechnungen zur Wellenausbreitung 4.1 Eindimensionale Wellenausbreitung 4.2 Wellenausbreitung im Halbraum 4.3 Wellenausbreitung im porösen Medium 5 Anwendungsbeispiel 5.1 Geometrische Situation, Baugrundschichtung 5.2 Bodenmechanische und bodendynamische Kennwerte 5.3 Schwingungsmessungen 5.4 Messung von bleibenden Verformungen 5.5 Belastung 5.6 Numerische Modellierung 5.7 Hypoplastische Berechnung 5.8 Vergleich Mess- und Berechnungsergebnisse 5.9 Linear elastische Berechnung 5.10 Vergleich der Ergebnisse mit hypoplastischer und elastischer Berechnung 6 Zusammenfassung und Ausblick Summary Literaturverzeichnis Symbolverzeichnis Anhang A Berechnungen zur Wellenausbreitung Anhang B Eingabedateien für Berechnungen mit TOCHNOG Anhang C Herleitungen der Biot-Theorie / In this thesis it is shown how to determine the soil stiffness at very small strains, as well as the decrease in stiffness with increasing shear strain amplitude in laboratory and field tests. Typical properties and empirical correlations of coarse-, fine-grained and organic soils are collected and significant differences in soil stiffness and stress-dependence at small strains compared to large strains are shown. Further it is shown how one can realistically reproduce the soil behaviour at small strains with the hypoplastic constitutive model with intergranular strains and how the material parameters are determined. For a realistic prediction of soil behaviour due to cyclic loading including hysteresis loops in the stress-strain relationship, a modification of the hypoplastic constitutive model is made by using an additional material parameter. It is shown how this additional parameter can be determined in cyclic laboratory tests and how the accumulation of strains in drained conditions and excess pore pressures built up in undrained conditions can be realistically reproduced. Based on the dynamic load on a railway embankment on soft marshy ground, the modified hypoplastic constitutive model with intergranular strains is applied for a boundary value problem. It is demonstrated, that the soil behaviour can be reproduced realistically. Numerical results show a good agreement with results of vibration measurements and measurements of permanent displacements. A dynamical numerical analysis is performed for both one-dimensional and half-space conditions. Different constitutive models have been applied and compared with analytical solutions. The results demonstrate requirements on numerical analysis of wave propagation, in particular with regards to time steps, element size, node spacing, size of the FE mesh and boundary conditions.:1 Einführung 2 Bodensteifgkeit 2.1 Defnition der Scherdehnung und der Schubspannung 2.2 Versuchstechnische Ermittlung der Bodensteifgkeiten 2.3 Ermittlung der Bodensteifgkeiten im Feld 2.4 Ermittlung der Bodensteifgkeiten im Labor 2.5 Bodensteifgkeit bei sehr kleinen Dehnungen 2.6 Abnahme der Steifigkeit mit zunehmender Scherdehnung 2.7 Bodenverhalten und Scherdehnungsgrenzen 2.8 Weitere bodendynamische Eigenschaften 3 Hypoplastisches Stogesetz 3.1 Allgemeine Formulierung der Hypoplastizität 3.2 Intergranulare Dehnungen 3.3 Bereich mit sehr kleinen Dehnungen 3.4 Bereich mit kleinen bis mittleren Dehnungen 3.5 Vergleich der Ergebnisse mit dem HS-Small-Modell 3.6 Zusammenfassung und Wertung der Ergebnisse 4 Numerische Berechnungen zur Wellenausbreitung 4.1 Eindimensionale Wellenausbreitung 4.2 Wellenausbreitung im Halbraum 4.3 Wellenausbreitung im porösen Medium 5 Anwendungsbeispiel 5.1 Geometrische Situation, Baugrundschichtung 5.2 Bodenmechanische und bodendynamische Kennwerte 5.3 Schwingungsmessungen 5.4 Messung von bleibenden Verformungen 5.5 Belastung 5.6 Numerische Modellierung 5.7 Hypoplastische Berechnung 5.8 Vergleich Mess- und Berechnungsergebnisse 5.9 Linear elastische Berechnung 5.10 Vergleich der Ergebnisse mit hypoplastischer und elastischer Berechnung 6 Zusammenfassung und Ausblick Summary Literaturverzeichnis Symbolverzeichnis Anhang A Berechnungen zur Wellenausbreitung Anhang B Eingabedateien für Berechnungen mit TOCHNOG Anhang C Herleitungen der Biot-Theorie