Page 227 - Fundamentals of Computational Geoscience Numerical Methods and Algorithms

218 8 Spontaneous Crack Generation Problems in Large-Scale Geological Systems

Fig. 8.20 Effect of the total
number of particles on crack
patterns in two
computational models of the
same initial geometry

(4000-particle model with showing particles)

(4000-particle model without showing particles)

(8000-particle model with showing particles)

(8000-particle model without showing particles)

the effects of the dip angle of the underlying fault on the spontaneous crack gen-
eration patterns due to the crustal fault-propagation folding above rigid basement
blocks.
Figure 8.20 also shows that spontaneous cracks are only generated in the cen-
tral part of the computational model. Since most parts of the computational model
are still in the elastic response state, they can be simulated more efficiently using
continuum-mechanics-based numerical methods such as the finite element and finite
difference methods (Zhao et al. 1999f). In this regard, it is not the most effi-
cient process to use particles to simulate the whole computational model. To over-
come this disadvantage, the combined use of both the continuum-mechanics-based