Utah State University
United States
Principal Investigator
Srisharan Shreedharan
Research Interests
"Rock Deformation and Fault Friction, Earthquake Mechanics, Granular Processes, Machine Learning Applications to Earthquakes
My research currently focuses on four main themes and many projects fall under more than one of them: (1) Processes associated with earthquake initiation, propagation, and termination (2) Mechanics of near-trench deformation at subduction zones (3) Frictional and microstructural characterization of fault zones (4) Machine learning applications to fault zone processes"
Proposed Hosting Period
Jan - Dec 2025
Exchange Language
English
Facilities/Resources
"The RDEM lab operates two rock/sediment deformation apparatuses:
1. a 1-meter biaxial deformation apparatus consisting of a steel load frame with hydraulically driven normal (4 MN) and shear loads (2 MN). The load frame can accommodate samples up to 1.2 m long and is configured to deform sediment/gouge/powder sandwiched between 0.85 m long Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) blocks. Samples can be instrumented with strain gauge rosettes to measure local shear stresses/strains, ILD1320 laseroptical displacement sensors, and Panametrics V103 ultrasonic contact transducers, all of which can be operated simultaneously.
2. An electromechanical direct/residual shear system capable of applying up to 2,500 lbf (11 kN) vertical and horizontal load capacity, and deformation rates of 0.1 nm/s - 16.67 μm/s. Shear testing can currently be performed on 1"" and 2” round samples. The apparatus is configured to record and store normal and shear loads and displacements (4 channels) with the ability to record additional sensors/channels.
The USU RDEM laboratory is equipped with apparatuses and data acquisition instrumentation to perform a broad range of brittle deformation experiments on rock and sediment samples. The lab also utilizes storage and computational resources at the University of Utah Center for High Performance Computing. "