Deformation of the lithosphere is characterised by elastic, non-linear
viscous and plastic material behaviour. The representation of this complex
rheology is a challenge for numerical models of tectonic processes and it is
important, therefore, to test rheology assumptions and implementations. A
comparison of results run with different codes for a well-defined and
constrained setup may help to establish code-independent results and
improve codes by learning from any differences.
As no benchmark exists to
date of Earth Science codes for plasticity implementations, we propose to
design a Mohr-Coulomb plasticity experiment for comparing results of
different numerical codes.
Our aim is to test different numerical techniques for implementing
Mohr-Coulomb plasticity.
The experiment should:
Tests
We will ask codes to pass some rheology (viscous, viscoelastic or elastoplastic) tests to ensure that all codes have the same common basis before continuing to more complex setups.
Circular inclusion
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Example of experimental setup
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Gango - Boris Kaus, PhD thesis, 2005
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Analytical solutions for pure and simple shear are available for
elastic, viscous and viscoelastic rheologies from Schmid and
Podladchikov , 2003, Geophys J Int 155.
The circular geometry of the inclusion may be difficult to implement in
codes with quadrilateral elements.
The experiment will be coordinated by Boris Kaus and Susanne Buiter.
The recipe will come here (as soon as we are ready....).
Feedback is always welcome!
Please send your suggestions to Susanne Buiter (susanne.buiter-at-ngu.no)