Dr. Wenqiang Zhang - Developing a discontinuous Galerkin method for 3D dynamic rupture modelling

Numerical simulations of rupture dynamics provide an important way to understand earthquake physics, while the complex geometry of natural faults (e.g., multiple fault segments, branches, step-overs) makes the development of numerical methods challenging. This presentation will show our recent work on developing a nodal discontinuous Galerkin approach to solve three-dimensional dynamic rupture problems. Our method can handle complex fault geometries, heterogeneous material, off-fault plasticity, fault roughness, thermal pressurization, and various friction laws. We will demonstrate that our method can be applied to simulate the rupture process of the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake, resolving the rupture propagation along/across the complex geometry of the multiple faults and the ground surface topography.