Surface topography formation in a region of plate collision: Mathematical modeling

The collision of earth’s crustal plates is modeled mathematically based on a numerical solution of the equations of deformable solid mechanics using a finite element method with the MSC software. The interaction of the plates with each other and with the mantle is described by the solution of the contact problem with an unknown contact boundary between the solids considered. The mantle material is assumed to be ideal elastic-plastic with the Huber–Mises yield surface, and the properties of the plate material are described using an elastic-plastic model with the Drucker–Prager parabolic yield function which takes into account fracture in the tensile stress region. The results of the mathematical modeling show that the surface profiles of the plates in the region of their collision are consistent, both qualitatively and quantitatively, to the surface topography observed in nature under similar conditions.