Balance between viscous and elastic parameters for ductile materials flow under an overdamped regime

Abstract

The evolution of less ductile layers embedded in a more ductile matrix under simple progressive shear in some geological structures, such as folding and asymmetric boudinage in the same direction, is a current trend in structural geology research. Aiming to study this subject, in this work a finite element method (FEM) is used to discretize a continuous medium as a point-mass model in which every node is subject to elastic and viscous forces. The dynamic equation of the present system takes into account both kinds of those forces driving the motion of each particle. In the herein developed model the system is subject to external shear forces applied to some nodes, resulting in a continuous flow of material. The balance between viscous and elastic constants is pursuit in order to characterize the evolution of the system.