Dr. Rob Skarbek

I conduct research in the areas of (i) rock and ice friction; (ii) fault mechanics; (iii) and compaction of porous media. Frictional behavior: Development and maintenance of software for analysis of friction experimental data. Development of new techniques for constraining frictional parameters using novel experimental data, and advanced descriptions of elastic behavior. Fault mechanics: Derivation of analytical solutions for the elastic stress fields generated by fault slip in complex geometries, for use in linear and non-linear stability analyses, and incorporation into numerical models. Development of efficient numerical techniques for simulations of earthquake rupture and seismic cycles. Porous Media: I study compaction during a range processes such as fluid flow, and rock-water reactions.