3D displacement discontinuity analysis of in-situ stress perturbation near a weak fault

A numerical investigation utilizing the 3D displacement discontinuity method is performed to examine the stress perturbations and induced displacements near a weak fault with arbitrary orientations and dip, assuming zero shear stress and normal displacement. The in-situ stress field near the fault is taken as known and varied with depth. The modelling is constructed based on indirect boundary integral equations. In this work, the fault plane is first modelled as a rectangular plane with negligible thickness between the adjacent surfaces. The fault plane is then divided into numerous rectangular boundary elements with imposed shear singularities on the surface, which is normal to the fault plane to simulate a traction-free scenario. The numerical results of the total induced stresses and displacements are then compared to the existing solutions of a penny-shaped crack for validation purpose. With validated results, the paper moves on to the discussion of various factors that have impacts on the induced stress and displacements, including: aspect ratio which is defined by strike over dip; orientation of the strike on the horizontal ground surface; as well as dip. The boundary integration method with modification is also used to model an elliptical distribution of singularities with inner, corner, and edge elements to accommodate more complex shape of a discontinuity; small differences are observed.