Numerical Simulation of the Infinite Medium of Dry Soil in Dynamic Soil-Structure Interaction Problems

Abstract

One of the major issues in the dynamic analysis of soil-structure interaction problems is to model the far field medium. The dynamic analysis of soil-structure interaction problems can be carried out by using a numerical solution procedure such as finite element method. For domains of infinite extension of the soil, using of the standard finite elements method leads to spurious reflections for waves on the artificial boundaries which can seriously affect the results.This research presents a method based on the mathematical representation of wave propagation to analyze the problems in dynamic soil-structure interaction. In this method, the infinite medium (unbounded domain) of the soil is represented by viscous elements to simulate the radiation damping in the soil. In addition, the material damping of soil is represented by Rayleigh damping and implemented in the bounded domain.The results obtained from this study indicated that, dissipation in the energy of wave occur due to representing of the infinite medium of the soil by viscous elements and Rayleigh damping. By comparing the results with those obtained from the boundary elements method to simulate the infinite extension of the soil which is proposed by Estorff and Kausel (1989), a good agreement is achieved. In addition, the dynamic response at any depth under the foundation can be estimated by using the present method.