Duration - 01/05/2021 - 30/04/2022
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow - Janis Aleksans
Principal Investigator - Conrad Childs
Funding - iCRAG (Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences) project funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI),
and cofunded by the European Regional Development Fund and iCRAG industry partners.
Project description
Inactive ancient faults are widespread and remain as weaknesses within the crust that can be
reactivated if subject to sufficiently high stresses. Sufficient stresses can be caused by large-scale
anthropogenic activities including mining, tunnelling, deep geothermal and carbon sequestration
(CCS) projects, with sometimes catastrophic results. Currently, fault reactivation risk evaluation is
based on ideas of the frictional strength of the rock and local fault orientation. Existing methods, however, take no account
of the often complex geometries of faults in 3D and their potential impact on fault reactivation due to stress
changes. This project will, therefore, perform distinct element method (DEM) modelling to investigate the response
of faults to perturbations in effective stress arising from complex 3D fault surface geometries and variable frictional
properties. It will also test the limitations of current methods for risking fault reactivation in response to a
change in applied stress.
Contact: Janis Aleksans
Tel: +353 1 7162611
EMAIL