Title: Associate Professor
Country/Region: USA
Period: 2025/08/21 - 2026/07/15
Theme: Mechanics of fault slip due to fluid sources
Host: So OZAWA
Introduction: Robert Viesca earned his Ph.D. in Engineering Science at Harvard University in 2011. Following a postdoc at Dalhousie University, he joined the faculty at Tufts University in 2012 and is currently an associate professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering. His research is focused on problems of fracture and fault mechanics.
Research Report:
1 Summary of activities
During my stay at ERI, I completed research into linear and non-linear stability analysis of
steady-state sliding on rate-and-state faults under different loading conditions, within two- and
three-dimensional media under different loading conditions, a project initiated prior to my visit
in close collaboration with Dmitry Garagash. I developed approximate expressions for critical
lengthscales for linear and non-linear stages of instability that we previously solved for numerically.
The results provide the boundaries between stable creep, slow slip, and seismic slip transients in the
model fault parametric space. I drafted, revised, and submitted a manuscript with D. Garagash
[Viesca and Garagash, 2025] and presented this research at the joint meeting of the Japan and
American Geophysical Unions [Viesca and Garagash, 2026], and gratefully acknowledge the support
from the ERI International Office to do so.
During my stay at ERI, I completed research into linear and non-linear stability analysis of
steady-state sliding on rate-and-state faults under different loading conditions, within two- and
three-dimensional media under different loading conditions, a project initiated prior to my visit
in close collaboration with Dmitry Garagash. I developed approximate expressions for critical
lengthscales for linear and non-linear stages of instability that we previously solved for numerically.
The results provide the boundaries between stable creep, slow slip, and seismic slip transients in the
model fault parametric space. I drafted, revised, and submitted a manuscript with D. Garagash
[Viesca and Garagash, 2025] and presented this research at the joint meeting of the Japan and
American Geophysical Unions [Viesca and Garagash, 2026], and gratefully acknowledge the support
from the ERI International Office to do so.
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Fiscal Year: 2025
Fiscal Year: 2025