Stick–slip behavior of Indian gabbro as studied using a NIED large-scale biaxial friction apparatus

This paper reports stick-slip behaviors of Indian gabbro as studied using a new large-scale biaxial friction apparatus, built in the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention （NIED）, Tsukuba, Japan. The apparatus consists of the existing shaking table as the shear-loading device up to 3,600 kN, the main frame for holding two large rectangular prismatic specimens with a sliding area of 0.75 m^2 and for applying normal stresses an up to 1.33 MPa, and a reaction force unit holding the stationary specimen to the ground. The shaking table can produce loading rates v up to 1.0 m/s, accelerations up to 9.4 m/s^2, and displacements d up to 0.44 m, using four servocontrolled actuators. We report results from eight preliminary experiments conducted with room humidity on the same gabbro specimens at v = 0.1-100 mm/s and an = 0.66-1.33 MPa, and with d of about 0.39 m. The peak and steady-state friction coefficients were about 0.8 and 0.6, respectively, consistent with the Byerlee friction. The axial force drop or shear stress drop during an abrupt slip is linearly proportional to the amount of displacement, and the slope of this rela- tionship determines the stiffness of the apparatus as 1.15 × 10^8 N/m or 153 MPa/m for the specimens we used. This low stiffness makes fault motion very unstable and the overshooting of shear stress to a negative value was recognized in some violent stick-slip events. An abrupt slip occurred in a constant rise time of 16-18 ms despite wide variation of the stress drop, and an average velocity during an abrupt slip is linearly proportional to the stress drop. The use of a large-scale shaking table has a great potential in increasing the slip rate and total displacement in biaxial friction experiments with large specimens.

Heat transfer and friction factor of Therminol liquid phase heat transfer fluid in a ribbed tube

Experiments and simulations on flow and heat transfer behavior of Therminol-55 liquid phase heat transfer fluid have been conducted in a ribbed tube with the outer diameter and inner diameter 25.0 and 20.0 mm,pitch and rib height of 4.5 and 1.0 mm.respectively.Experimental results show that the heat transfer and thermal performance of Therminol-55 liquid phase heat transfer fluid in the ribbed tube are considerably improved compared to those of the smooth tube.The Nusselt number increase with the increase of Reynolds number.The increase in heat transfer rate of the ribbed tube has a mean value of 2.24 times.Also,the pressure drop results reveal that the average friction factor of the ribbed tube is in a range of 2.4 and 2.8 times over the smooth tube.Numerical simulations of three-dimensional flow behavior of Therminol-55 liquid phase heat transfer fluid are carried out using three different turbulence models in the ribbed tube.The numerical results show that the heat transfer of ribbed tube is improved because vortices are generated behind ribs,which produce some disruptions to fluid flow and enhance heat transfer compared with smooth tube.The numerical results prove that the ribbed tube can improve heat transfer and fluid flow performances of Therminol liquid phase heat transfer fluid.

Analysis of faults stability with dynamic phenomena in the mice based on slide criterion and in-situ stress measurement

For the study on the relationshl＇p between the dynamic phenomena in the mining such as mine earthquakes, outburst and faults slide, firstly, double shear friction experiments of sandstone were made, and its slide criterion was suggested considering the viewing of engineering. Secondly, in order to study the stability of underground rock and zone of tectonic stress field, based on the analysis on distribution characteristic of initial rock stress measurements, the geology structural model was built and tectonic stress field was made a back-analysis by applying finite element method. The calculating results fit with the analysis result of earthquakes mechanism and the distribution characteristic of the measurements. The high stress regional centers station locates discontinuous zone of I level faults and is corresponding to underground earthquakes scene. From then it is certain that tectonic stress is the major origin and necessary condition of mine earthquakes. The instability slide of the faults is the main manifest and the mining activity is the leading factor. Beipiao fault has a dominate effect on other sub faults and tectonic stress area and is dynamical fountain of dynamic phenomena in the Beipiao Mines.

Experimental study on nucleation process of stick-slip instability on homogeneous and non-homogeneous faults

The nucleation process of stick-slip instability was analyzed based on the experimental measurements of strain and fault slip on homogeneous and non-homogeneous faults. The results show that the nucleation process of stick-slip on the homogeneous fault is of weak slip-weakening behavior under constant loading point velocity. The existence of a short "weak segment" on the fault makes slip-weakening phenomenon in nucleation process more obvious, while the existence of a long "weak segment" on the fault makes the nucleation process changed. The nucleation is characterized by accelerating slip in a local region and rapid increase of shear stress along the fault in this case, which is more coincident with the rate and state friction law. During the period when fault is locked, increasing of shear stress causes lateral elastic dilation near the fault, and the rebound of the dilation at the time of instability causes an instantaneous increase of normal stress in the fault plane, which is an important factor making fault be rapidly locked and its strength recovered.