Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Static Laboratory Earthquake Measurements with the Digital Image Correlation Method

  • Published:
Experimental Mechanics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mapping full-field displacement and strain changes on the Earth’s surface following an earthquake is of paramount importance to enhance our understanding of earthquake mechanics. Currently, aerial and satellite images taken pre- and post-earthquake can be processed with sub-pixel correlation algorithms to infer the co-seismic ground deformations (e.g., [1, 2]). However, the interpretation of this data is not straightforward due to the inherent complexity of natural faults and deformation fields. To gain understanding into rupture mechanics and to help interpret complex rupture features occurring in nature, we develop a laboratory earthquake setup capable of reproducing displacement and strain maps similar to those obtained in the field, while maintaining enough simplicity so that clear conclusions can be drawn. Earthquakes are mimicked in the laboratory by dynamic rupture propagating along an inclined frictional interface formed by two Homalite plates under compression (e.g., [3]). In our study, the interface is partially glued, in order to confine the rupture before it reaches the ends of the specimen. The specimens are painted with a speckle pattern to provide the surface with characteristic features for image matching. Images of the specimens are taken before and after dynamic rupture with a 4 Megapixels resolution CCD camera. The digital images are analyzed with two software packages for sub-pixel correlation: VIC-2D (Correlated Solutions Inc.) and COSI-Corr [1]. Both VIC-2D and COSI-Corr are able to characterize the full-field static displacement of the experimentally produced dynamic shear ruptures. The correlation analysis performed with either software clearly shows (i) the relative displacement (slip) along the frictional interface, (ii) the rupture arrest on the glued boundaries, and (iii) the presence of wing cracks. The obtained displacement measurements are converted to strains, using non-local de-noising techniques; stresses are obtained by introducing Homalite’s constitutive properties. This study is a first step towards using the digital image correlation method in combination with high-speed photography to capture the highly transient phenomena involved in dynamic rupture.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The pixels referred to in this section are the pixels of the displacement field images, 512 × 510 pixels, resulting from the correlation analysis, not to be confused with the pixels of the original images, 2,048 × 2,040 pixels.

References

  1. Leprince S, Barbot S, Ayoub F, Avouac J-P (2007) Automatic, precise, ortho-rectification and co-registration for satellite image correlation, application to seismotectonics. IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens 45(6):1529–1558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Leprince S, Ayoub F, Klinger Y, Avouac J-P (2007) Co-Registration of Optically Sensed Images and Correlation (COSI-Corr): an Operational Methodology for Ground Deformation Measurements. IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS 2007), Barcelona July 2007

  3. Rosakis, AJ, Xia KW, Lykotrafitis G, Kanamori H (2007) Dynamic shear rupture in frictional interfaces: speeds, directionality and modes, Treatise in Geophysics, edited by H. Kanamori, vol. 4, 153–192

  4. Okada Y, Kashara K, Hori S, Obara K, Sekiguchi S, Fujiwara H, Yamamoto A (2004) Recent progress of seismic observation networks in Japan—Hi-net, F-net, K-NET and KiK-net. Earth Planet Space 56:15–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Massonnet D, Feigl KL (1998) Radar interferometry and its application to changes in the earth’s surface. Rev Geophys 36(4):441–500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Van Puymbroeck N, Michel R, Binet R, Avouac JP, Taboury J (2000) Measuring earthquakes from optical satellite images. Appl Opt 39:3486–3494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kaab A (2002) Monitoring high-mountain terrain deformation from repeated air—and spaceborne optical data: examples using digital aerial imagery and ASTER data. ISPRS J Photogramm 57(1–2):39–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Rosakis AJ, Samudrala O, Coker D (1999) Cracks faster than the shear wave speed. Science 284:1337–1340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Rosakis AJ (2002) Intersonic shear cracks and faults rupture, adv. Phys 51(4):1189–1257

    Google Scholar 

  10. Xia K, Rosakis AJ, Kanamori H (2004) Laboratory earthquakes: the sub-Rayleigh-to-supershear rupture transition. Science 303:1859–1861

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Xia K, Rosakis AJ, Kanamori H, Rice J (2005) Laboratory earthquakes along inhomogeneous faults: directionality and supershear. Science 308:681–684

    Google Scholar 

  12. Lu X, Lapusta N, Rosakis AJ (2007) Pulse-like and crack-like ruptures in experiments mimicking crustal earthquakes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104:18931–18936

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Lu X, Lapusta N, Rosakis AJ (2009) Analysis of supershear transition regimes in rupture experiments: the effect of nucleation conditions and friction parameters. Geophys J Int 177:717–732

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Sutton MA, Orteu J-J, Schreier HW (2009) Image correlation for shape, motion, and deformation measurements. Springer

  15. Peters WH, Ranson WF (1982) Digital image technique in experimental stress analysis. Opt Eng 21:427–431

    Google Scholar 

  16. Sutton MA, Wolters WJ, Peters WH, Ranson WF, McNeill SR (1983) Determination of displacements using an improved digital correlation method. Image Vis Comput 1(3):133–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Chu TC, Ranson WF, Sutton MA, Peters WH (1985) Application of digital-image correlation techniques to experimental mechanics. Exp Mech 25:232–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Sutton MA, Turner JL, Chao YJ, Bruck HA, Chae TA (1991) Experimental investigations of three-dimensional effects near a crack tip using computer vision. Int J Fract 53(3):201–228

    Google Scholar 

  19. Abanto-Bueno J, Lambros J (2002) Investigation of crack growth in functionally graded materials using digital image correlation. Eng Fract Mech 69(14–16):1695–1711

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Jin H, Bruck HA (2005) Theoretical development for pointwise digital image correlation. Opt Eng 44(6). doi:10.1117/1.1928908

  21. Kirugulige MS, Tippur HV, Denney TS (2007) Measurement of transient deformations using digital image correlation method and high-speed photography: application to dynamic fracture. Appl Opt 46(22):5083–5096

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Réthoré J, Roux S, Hild F (2008) Extended digital image correlation with crack shape optimization. Int J Numer Meth Eng 73(2):248–272

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  23. Kirugulige MS, Tippur HV (2009) Me3asurement of fracture parameters for a Mixed-mode crack driven by stress waves using image correlation technique and High-speed digital photography. Strain 45(2):108–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Jajam KC, Tippur HV (2011) An experimental investigation of dynamic crack growth past a stiff inclusion. Eng Fract Mech 78(6):1289–1305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Sutton MA, Cheng M, Peters WH, Chao YJ, McNeill SR (1986) Application of an optimized digital correlation method to planar deformation analysis. Image Vis Comput 4(3):143–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Bruck HA, McNeill SR, Sutton MA, Peters WH (1989) Digital image correlation using Newton–Raphson method of partial differential correction. Exp Mech 29(3):261–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Mello M, Bhat HS, Rosakis AJ, Kanamori H (2010) Identifying the unique ground motion signatures of supershear earthquakes: theory and experiments. Tectonophysics 493:297–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Michel R, Ampuero J-P, Avouac J-P, Lapusta N, Leprince S, Redding DC, Somala S (2013) A geostationary optical seismometer, proof of concept. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, in press

  29. Gabuchian V, Rosakis AJ, Lapusta N, Oglesby D (2014) Experimental investigation of strong ground motion due to thrust fault earthquakes. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 119:1316–1336

  30. Lykotrafitis G, Rosakis AJ (2006) Dynamic sliding of frictionally held bimaterial interfaces subjected to impact shear loading. Proc R Soc Math Phys Eng Sci 462:2997–3026

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  31. Lykotrafitis G, Rosakis A, Ravichandran G (2006) Self-healing pulse-like shear ruptures in the laboratory. Science 313(5794):1765–1768

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Sutton MA, Turner JL, Bruck HA, Chae TA (1991) Full-field representation of discretely sampled surface deformation for displacement and strain analysis. Exp Mech 31(2):168–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Sutton MA, McNeil SR, Helm JD, Chao YJ (2000) Advances in two-dimensional and three-dimensional computer vision. In: Rastogi PK (ed) Photomechnics, topics in applied physics. Springer, Berlin, pp 323–372

    Google Scholar 

  34. Avril S, Feissel P, Pierron F, Villon P (2010) Comparison of two approaches for differentiating full-field data in solid mechanics. Meas Sci Technol. doi:10.1088/0957-0233/21/1/015703

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  35. Buades A, Coll B, Morel JM (2006) The staircasing effect in neighborhood filters and its solution. IEEE Trans Image Process 15:1499–1505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Buades A, Coll B, Morel JM (2008) Nonlocal image and movie denoising. Int J Comput Vis 76:123–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Goossens B, Luong H, Pizurica A, Philips W (2008) An improved non-local denoising algorithm. Proceedings of the 2008 international workshop on local and Non-local approximation in image processing. Lausanne, Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  38. Ayoub F, Leprince S, Keene L (2009) User’s guide to COSI-CORR CO-registered of optically sensed images and correlation. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena

    Google Scholar 

  39. Dally J, Riley W (2005) Experimental stress analysis, 4th edn. College House Enterprises, LLC

    Google Scholar 

  40. Brace WF, Bombolakis EG (1963) A note on brittle crack growth in compression. J Geophys Res 68:3709–3713

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Erdogan F, Sih GH (1963) On the crack extension in plates under plane loading and transverse shear. J Basic Eng-T ASME 85:519–527

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Nemat-Nasser S, Horii H (1982) Compression-induced nonplanar crack extension with application to splitting, exfoliation and rockburst. J Geophys Res 87:6805–6821

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Hussain MA, Pu SL, Underwood JH (1974) Strain energy release rate for a crack under combined mode I and mode II. In: fracture Analysis. Proceedings of the 1973 National Symposium on Fracture Mechanics II. Am Soc Test Mate Spec Tech Publ 560:2–28

    Google Scholar 

  44. Cotterell B, Rice JR (1980) Slightly curved or kinked cracks. Int J Fract 16:155–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Pollard DD, Segall P (1987) Theoretical displacements and stresses near fractures in rock: with applications to faults, joints, veins, dikes, and solution surfaces. In: Atkinson BK (ed) Fracture mechanics of rock. Academic, London, pp 277–349

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  46. Cruikshank KM, Zhao G, Johnson AM (1991) Analysis of minor fractures associated with joints and faulted joints. J Struct Geol 13:865–886

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Willemse EJM, Pollard DD (1998) On the orientation and patterns of wing cracks and solution surfaces at the tips of a sliding flaw or fault. J Geophys Res 103:2427–2438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Schreier HW, Braasch JR, Sutton MA (2000) Systematic errors in digital image correlation caused by intensity interpolation. Opt Eng 39(11):2915–2921

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Schreier HW, Sutton MA (2002) Systematic errors in digital image correlation due to undermatched subset shape functions. Exp Mech 42(3):303–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Lecompte D, Bossuyt S, Cooreman S, Sol H, Vantomme J (2007) Study and generation of optimal speckle patterns for DIC. 2007 SEM Proceedings

  51. Wang ZY, Li HQ, Tong JW, Ruan JT (2007) Statistical analysis of the effect of intensity pattern noise on the displacement measurement precision of digital image correlation using self-correlated images. Exp Mech 47:700–707

    Google Scholar 

  52. Wang YQ, Sutton MA, Bruck HA, Schreier HW (2009) Quantitative error assessment in patter matching: effects of intensity pattern noise, interpolation, strain and image contrast on motion measurements. Strain 45:160–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Rispoli R (1981) Stress fields about strike-slip faults inferred from stylolites and tension gashes. Tectonophysics 75:T29–T36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Willemse EJM, Peacock DCP, Aydin A (1997) Nucleation and growth of strike-slip faults in limestones from Somerset, U.K. J Struct Geol 19:1461–1477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Martel SJ, Boger WA (1998) Geometry and mechanics of secondary fracturing around small three-dimensional faults in granitic rock. J Geophys Res 103(B9):21,299–21,314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Younes A, Engelder T (1999) Fringe cracks: key structures for the interpretation of progressive Alleghanian deformation of the appalachian plateau. GSA Bull 111:219–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Cooke M, Mollema P, Pollard DD, Aydin A (2000) Interlayer slip and fracture clusters within East Kaibab monocline: numerical analysis and field investigations. In: Cosgrove J, Ameen M (eds) Drape folds and associated fractures. Geological Society of London Special Publication, London, pp 23–49

    Google Scholar 

  58. Kattenhorn SA, Aydin A, Pollard DD (2000) Joints at high angles to normal fault strike: an exploration using 3-D numerical models of fault-perturbed stress fields. J Struct Geol 22:1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Kattenhorn SA, Marshall ST (2006) Fault-induced perturbed stress fields and associated tensile and compressive deformation at fault tips in the ice shell of Europa: implications for fault mechanics. J Struct Geol 28:2204–2221

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

We gratefully acknowledge the support for this study from the National Science Foundation (grant EAR 1142183 and 1321655), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (through Tectonic Observatory at Caltech and grant GBM 2808), the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC), and the Keck Institute for Space Studies. This is Tectonics Observatory contribution #250 and SCEC contribution #1810.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Aerospace Laboratories, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Blvd, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA

    V. Rubino & A. J. Rosakis

  2. Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Blvd, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA

    N. Lapusta

  3. Division of Geological and Planetary Science, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Blvd, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA

    N. Lapusta, S. Leprince & J. P. Avouac

Authors
  1. V. Rubino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. N. Lapusta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. A. J. Rosakis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S. Leprince
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J. P. Avouac
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to V. Rubino.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rubino, V., Lapusta, N., Rosakis, A.J. et al. Static Laboratory Earthquake Measurements with the Digital Image Correlation Method. Exp Mech 55, 77–94 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-014-9893-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-014-9893-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation