ABSTRACT
The stick-slip phenomenon is used to explain a mechanism of earthquake recurrence. A number of stick-slip experiments have been performed to clarify the mechanism of recurring slip instabilities and slip weakening. Although the amplitude of sliding of most experiments is quite smaller than actual earthquakes, and the observed acceleration is larger. The authors have developed an experimental setup, in which blocks move on a conveyor belt and is restrained by the spring, and conducted stick-slip experiments. However, the amplitude of slippage and acceleration observed in these experiments were quite smaller than actual earthquakes. Therefore, a large-scale experimental device was improved to be able to experiment with a larger rock blocks, and the experiment which changed the size and the type of the rock blocks was conducted. In this study, the results of large-scale experimental device were compared with the results of previous experiments, and the scale effect of rock discontinuities on the stick-slip phenomenon was investigated.
