Computers and Geotechnics 63 (2015) 1–12

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Computers and Geotechnics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compgeo

Transient analysis of wave propagation in layered soil by using

the scaled boundary finite element method
Xiaojun Chen ⇑, Carolin Birk, Chongmin Song
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: An efficient method for modelling the propagation of elastic waves in layered media is developed. It is
Received 9 May 2014 applicable to scalar and vector wave soil–structure interaction problems involving semi-infinite layers.
Received in revised form 16 July 2014 The scaled boundary finite element method is employed to derive an equation for the displacement
Accepted 13 August 2014
unit-impulse response matrix on the near field/far field interface. An accurate and efficient time discret-
Available online 3 September 2014
ization method is proposed for that equation. As the displacement unit-impulse response approaches
zero, the convolution integral representing the force–displacement relationship can be truncated. After
Keywords:
the truncation the computational effort only increases linearly with time. Thus, a considerable reduction
Wave propagation
Layered soil
of computational effort is achieved in a time domain analysis. In addition, a reasonable viscous damping
Displacement unit-impulse response matrix model is proposed for this problem. The existence of damping will cause the displacement unit-impulse
Truncation response matrix to decay faster. Therefore, an earlier truncation time can be adopted, thus further reduc-
Viscous damping ing the computational effort. Numerical examples demonstrate the accuracy and high efficiency of the
new method.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction domains typically are based on assuming linear behaviour. A com-

The numerical modelling of waves in the ground is a challeng-
ing task for several reasons, including the need to accurately model
radiation damping and the potential non-linear material behaviour
of soil. In general, there are two approaches to model the non-lin-
ear stress–strain behaviour of soil [1]. One is the equivalent linear
modelling approach, in which an approximate linear equation in
terms of the equivalent shear strain is used. Although this equiva-
lent linear model is mathematically simple, it yields inaccurate
results for large strains and is not applicable to plastic deforma-
tion/failure. As an alternative, ‘truly non-linear’ modelling is based
on directly using various elasto-plastic constitutive relationships
[2]. This is typically done using discretization schemes, such as
the finite element method, discrete element method or finite dif-
ference method, in a soil domain of finite extent [1,3]. Examples
of equivalent elastic and truly non-linear modelling of soil can be
found in Refs. [3,4], respectively. If the soil is considered
unbounded, the above discrete models are often combined with
simple, approximate absorbing boundaries to account for the effect
of radiation damping. Rigorous approaches to model unbounded
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 2 9385 7606.
E-mail addresses: xiaojun.chen@unsw.edu.au (X. Chen), c.birk@unsw.edu.au
(C. Birk), c.song@unsw.edu.au (C. Song).
mon approach is to couple a rigorous, but linear model of the far
field to a near-field model including any non-linearities. In case
of half-space, this is reasonable as the amplitudes of outgoing
waves diminish with increasing distance, so that small strains
can be assumed in the far field. In case of layered soil, however, this
can be problematic, as there is no decay of wave amplitudes.
Therefore, the strains in the far field can still be large if the soil
is undamped. In reality, the strain in the far field will be reduced
due to the existence of material damping, so that linearity can still
be assumed. The method proposed in this paper focuses on model-
ling the far field soil as linear elastic layered medium with material
damping.
To correctly describe the wave propagation at infinity, radiation
damping must be modelled accurately [5]. This is of particular
importance in soil–structure interaction analysis [6–8]. The stan-
dard finite element method is not directly applicable, since it does
not describe outgoing waves correctly. In the past 40 years, a lot of
research effort has been contributed to this field and many numer-
ical methods have been proposed. A detailed summary of the
extensive literature on modelling waves in unbounded domains
is beyond the scope of this paper. For this purpose, it is referred
to the review articles [9–14].
While most of the methods reviewed in [9–14] are applicable to
half-space problems, limited progress has been made with respect

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2014.08.008
0266-352X/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 X. Chen et al. / Computers and Geotechnics 63 (2015) 1–12
to modelling wave propagation in layered soil, which is often
encountered in engineering practice [15]. While impedance func-
tions of foundations resting on or embedded in stratified soil have
been computed using various approaches [16–18], modelling
waves in layered media directly in the time domain is particularly
challenging due to the existence of cut-off frequencies. Below the
cut-off frequency no radiation damping occurs. Beyond it, waves
propagate and in general decay slowly in a layered system. Analyt-
ical solutions for inhomogeneous layered systems are difficult to
obtain.
Most of the existing methods to model wave propagation in lay-
ered media can be classified as either rigorous, such as the bound-
ary element method (BEM) [19,20] and the thin layer method
(TLM) [21–23], or as approximate. Examples of approximate meth-
ods for waves in layered soil based on physical models can be
found in Refs. [24–27].
The boundary element method can model wave propagation in
unbounded media correctly, and is therefore a popular tool in
modelling soil–structure interaction [28–31]. It is based on the
use of a fundamental solution, which satisfies the radiation condi-
tion at infinity. The fundamental solution for a layered medium
based on Green’s function, however, is complex [32], especially
for inhomogeneous layers. The thin layer method is widely used
for dynamic analyses in layered media, recent applications include
[33–35]. It combines a finite element discretization in the direction
of layering with an analytical solution in the wavenumber domain
and frequency domain in the direction of wave propagation. Alter-
native, exact non-reflecting boundary conditions such as the
Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DtN) map [36], cannot be applied to the
layered media, since exact solutions are required, which are only
available for unbounded domains of simple geometry and material
properties.
In approximate methods, artificial boundary conditions are con-
structed to absorb outgoing waves. In many cases, these bound-
aries must be placed sufficiently far away from the soil–structure
interface in order to achieve acceptable accuracy. Detailed summa-
ries of approximate methods can be found in Refs. [37,38], ranging
from the classical low order viscous boundary [39] to high-order
local absorbing boundaries [14]. Among those formulations, Gudd-
ati and Tassoulas [40] proposed a continued fraction absorbing
boundary condition for a layered medium based on a rational func-
tion approximation of the dynamic stiffness. Liu and Zhao [41]
used high-order artificial boundary conditions in conjunction with
finite element modelling of wave propagation in multilayered soils
over rigid bedrock. In summary, most of these absorbing boundary
conditions are asymptotic only at high frequency. For semi-infinite
layers, where part of the energy is trapped near the region of
interest, a very high order of approximation is required to achieve
a reasonable accuracy [42]. To overcome this drawback, doubly-
asymptotic open boundaries have been developed in Ref. [43]. So
far, these open boundaries have only been applied to scalar
problems.
One relatively new approach, which is suitable to model vector
waves in layers, is the scaled boundary finite element method
(SBFEM). It is a semi-analytical technique based on finite element
technology, which has been developed to model waves in
unbounded domains [44]. This method combines some important
features of the boundary element method and the finite element
method. In the SBFEM, only the boundary is discretized, reducing
the spatial dimension by one. Since the formulation is based on
finite element concepts, no fundamental solution is required. The
SBFE equations are formulated from the governing equations by
using the weighted residual method or the principle of virtual
work. Anisotropy of the material only affects the constitutive
matrix and is implemented straightforwardly. A SBFE model of
an unbounded domain can be coupled seamlessly with a finite
element model of the near field. The scaled boundary finite ele-
ment method has been successfully applied to wave propagation
problems in 2D and 3D half-space and full-space unbounded
domains in both the frequency domain and time domain
[5,37,38,45–47].
In the frequency domain, an equation for the dynamic stiffness
can be derived. It is formulated as a non-linear differential equa-
tion [5]. By applying the inverse Fourier transform, an integro-dif-
ferential equation for the acceleration unit-impulse response
matrix in the time domain is obtained [48]. A modified formulation
for a 2D layered medium in the frequency domain has been estab-
lished as a special case in Ref. [5], and also been derived by using
the principal of virtual work in Ref. [49]. However, to the authors’
knowledge, no detailed implementation in the time domain has
been investigated. Moreover, hysteretic damping can be easily
implemented into the SBFEM in the frequency domain. In the time
domain, however, hysteretic damping will lead to non-causality,
because of the Hilbert transform [50].
In this paper, the wave propagation problem in layered media is
investigated in the time domain by using the scaled boundary
finite element method. The derivation of the new approach starts
from the SBFE equation in dynamic stiffness in the frequency
domain, which is summarised in Section 2. The time-domain for-
mulation is derived by considering the instantaneous response
and the lingering response separately. The instantaneous response
is represented by a spring and a dashpot matrix, whereas the lin-
gering response is represented by the displacement unit-impulse
response matrix. An efficient time discretization scheme for the
computation of the displacement unit-impulse response is derived
in detail in Section 3. The coupling of far field and near field in a
time-domain analysis is addressed in Section 4. As the lingering
response decays with time [5], the displacement unit-impulse
response can be truncated. This early truncation leads to a signifi-
cant reduction of computational effort. Moreover, a new viscous
damping model is proposed in Section 5 based on the use of com-
plex angular frequency. It is motivated by considering standard
equations of motion and then extended to the SBFE formulation.
The displacement unit-impulse response of a damped system
decays faster and can thus be truncated earlier, further contribut-
ing to the reduction of computational effort. Finally, numerical
examples are presented in Section 6 to verify the proposed con-
cepts and illustrate their applicability to problems of practical rel-
evance. Conclusions are stated in Section 7.
2. Summary of the scaled boundary finite element method
The scaled boundary finite element method is described in Refs.
[5,48]. A detailed derivation of the SBFEM for elastodynamics can
also be found in [44]. For the sake of completeness, only a brief
summary of the equations necessary for the development of the
time-domain analysis in 2D layered media is given in this section.
In the scaled boundary finite element method for a 2D layered
medium, the vertical boundary is discretized using line elements
(Fig. 1). The unknown nodal displacement functions fuðnÞg are
introduced along the horizontal direction and through a node on
the boundary, where n is the coordinate in the horizontal direction.
Fig. 1. Scaled boundary finite element method applied to semi-infinite layer.
 X. Chen et al. / Computers and Geotechnics 63 (2015) 1–12 3

In the frequency domain, the SBFE equation in unknown function Xm

1  
½S1 ðxÞ ¼ ix½C 1  þ ½K 1  þ Aj ; ð7Þ
fuðnÞg results [48,51], ð ix Þ
j
j¼1
h i  h i h i h i h i
T
E0 fuðnÞg;nn þ E1  E1 fuðnÞg;n  E2 fuðnÞg þ x2 M0 fuðnÞg ¼ 0; Using the following eigenvalue decomposition [48],
l k
ð1Þ ½M ½U ¼ ½E0 ½U K2 ;
0
ð8Þ
h i h i h i h i
where E0 ; E1 ; E2 and M0 are coefficient matrices obtained by
the resulting SBFE equation in transformed dynamic stiffness
assembling the element coefficient matrices as in the finite element matrix ½s1 ðxÞ can be expressed as:
method,     T   l k
2
h i Z þ1 h iT h i ½s1 ðxÞ þ e1 ½s1 ðxÞ þ e1  e2  ðixÞ K2 ¼ 0; ð9Þ
E0 ¼ B1 ðgÞ ½D B1 ðgÞ jJ ðgÞjdg; ð2aÞ
1 where
h i Z þ1 h iT h i
E1 ¼ B ðgÞ ½D B1 ðgÞ jJ ðgÞjdg;
2
ð2bÞ ½s1 ðxÞ ¼ ½UT ½S1 ðxÞ½U; ð10aÞ
1  1 h i
h i Z þ1 h iT h i e ¼ ½UT E1 ½U; ð10bÞ
E2 ¼ B2 ðgÞ ½D B2 ðgÞ jJ ðgÞjdg; ð2cÞ  2 h i
h i
1
Z þ1
e ¼ ½UT E2 ½U: ð10cÞ
0 T
M ¼ ½NðgÞ q½NðgÞjJ ðgÞjdg: ð2dÞ
1 Analogously, Eq. (7) is expressed as:
In Eq. (2d), q is the mass density and jJðgÞj is the determinant of the Xm
1  
Jacobian matrix on the boundary. The symbol ½D denotes the elas- ½s1 ðxÞ ¼ ix½c1  þ ½k1  þ j
aj ; ð11Þ
h i h i j¼1 ðixÞ
ticity matrix. The matrices B1 ðgÞ and B2 ðgÞ represent the strain-
where
nodal displacement relationship. The detailed derivation of Eq. (1)
by using the principle of virtual work can be found in Ref. [49]. ½c1  ¼ ½UT ½C 1 ½U; ð12aÞ
The internal nodal forces fqðnÞg on a surface with constant n are T
½k1  ¼ ½U ½K 1 ½U; ð12bÞ
obtained by integrating the surface tractions over elements and    
expressed as aj ¼ ½UT Aj ½U: ð12cÞ
h i h iT  
fqðnÞg ¼ E0 fuðnÞg;n þ E1 fuðnÞg; ð3Þ The coefficient matrices ½c1 , ½k1  and aj are determined by
substituting Eq. (11) into Eq. (9) and setting the coefficients corre-
j
where fqðnÞg is related to the nodal forces fRg on the boundary by sponding to individual terms ðixÞ equal to zero in descending
fRg ¼ fqðn ¼ 1Þg for the unbounded domain. The dynamic stiff- order [48]. When m ¼ 2 is selected, the four coefficients can be
ness matrix ½S1 ðxÞ of the unbounded domain is defined as determined by the following equations:
fRðxÞg ¼ ½S1 ðxÞfuðxÞg. The SBFE Eq. (1) can be transformed into l k
½c1 2  K2 ¼ 0; ð13aÞ
an equation for the dynamic stiffness,
 1 T  1 
1 T ½c1 ½k1  þ ½k1 ½c1  þ ½c1  e þ e ½c1  ¼ 0; ð13bÞ
ð½S1 ðxÞ þ ½E1 Þ½E0  ð½S1 ðxÞ þ ½E1  Þ  ½E2  þ x2 ½M0  ¼ 0: ð4Þ   1   1 T
½c1 ½a1  þ ½a1 ½c1  þ ½k1  þ e ½k 1  þ e ¼ 0; ð13cÞ
Eq. (4) is an algebraic Riccati equation. Note that, for any indepen- 
dent frequency x, the dynamic stiffness matrix ½S1 ðxÞ can be
  1   1 T
½c1 ½a2  þ ½a2 ½c1  þ ½k1  þ e ½a1  þ ½a1  ½k1  þ e ¼ 0: ð13dÞ
determined directly by solving Eq. (4).
A formulation in the time domain will be obtained by applying Note that, since ½c1  is diagonal, Eqs. (13b), (13c) and (13d) can sim-
the inverse Fourier transform to Eq. (4). In order to decompose ply be solved by back-substitution. Applying the inverse Fourier
½S1 ðxÞ into a singular part and a regular part, an asymptotic transform to the regular part of Eq. (7) results in the power expan-
expansion of ½S1 ðxÞ for high frequency is performed first. Then, sion of the displacement unit-impulse response matrix for early
an integro-differential equation is derived for the displacement time for t P 0:
unit-impulse response matrix. It can be solved by time discretiza-  
tion. This will be discussed in detail in the following section.  1  X m
Aj
Sr ðtÞ ¼ t j1 : ð14Þ
j¼1
ðj  1Þ!
3. SBFE equation in displacement unit-impulse response matrix  
It follows from Eq. (14) that ½A1  is the initial value for S1 ðtÞ , i.e.
 1  h r i
The dynamic stiffness matrix ½S1 ðxÞ can be decomposed into a Sr ðt ¼ 0Þ ¼ ½A1 , and ½A2  is the initial value for S_ 1 r ðtÞ , i.e.
    h i
singular part S1s ðxÞ and the remaining regular part S1 r ðxÞ , _S1 ðt ¼ 0Þ ¼ ½A2 . If we directly substitute ½s1 ðxÞ ¼ ix½c1 þ
r
which is square integrable [48],  
   1  ½k1  þ s1r ðxÞ into Eq. (9) and rearrange the terms in descending
½S1 ðxÞ ¼ S1
s ðxÞ þ Sr ðxÞ ; ð5Þ order of ðixÞ, the quadratic and linear terms yield Eqs. (13a) and
  (13b), respectively. The remaining part, which also has to equal
The singular part S1
s ðxÞ , which corresponds to the asymptotic zero, can be written as,
value of the dynamic stiffness for infinite frequency, ½S1 ðx ! 1Þ, 1     1  1 
can be expressed as, s r ð xÞ s 1r ðxÞ þ ½k1  þ e s r ð xÞ
    T  
½S1
s ðxÞ ¼ ix½C 1  þ ½K 1 ; ð6Þ þ s1 r ð xÞ ½k 1  þ e 1 þ ix½c1  s1 1
r ðxÞ þ ix½sr ðxÞ½c 1 
     T  
where the constant matrices ½C 1  and ½K 1  correspond to dashpot þ ½k1  þ e1 ½k1  þ e1  e2 ¼ 0: ð15Þ
and spring matrices, respectively. In Ref. [48], the regular part
 1 
Sr ðxÞ is expanded into a power series for high frequency. That When the inverse Fourier transform is applied to Eq. (15), the last
1
is, ½S ðxÞ is written as: two terms, which are constant, will result in the Dirac delta function
4 X. Chen et al. / Computers and Geotechnics 63 (2015) 1–12

 
dðt Þ, as s1
r ðtÞ is not continuous at t ¼ 0. For t > 0, the delta func- on the structure–soil interface. The interaction force–displacement
tion vanishes, and we obtain relationship is expressed as
Z t
Z t
  1  1  T
s1 1
r ðt  sÞ sr ðsÞ ds þ ½p½sr ðtÞ þ sr ðtÞ ½p
fRðt Þg ¼ ½C 1 fu_ s ðt Þg þ ½K 1 fus ðt Þg þ ½S1
r ðsÞfus ðt  sÞgds: ð24Þ
0 0
d½s1
r ðtÞ d½s1 ðtÞ Using Eq. (24), the equation of motion can be rearranged as:
þ ½c 1  þ r ½c1  ¼ 0; ð16Þ
dt dt " #
  ½M bb  ½M bs  fu € b ðt Þg ½C bb  ½C bs  fu_ b ðtÞg
where ½p ¼ ½k1  þ e1 . Eq. (16) is the transformed SBFE equation þ h i
½M sb  ½Mss  fu € s ðt Þg ½C sb  e
C ss fu_ s ðt Þg
for the regular part of the displacement unit-impulse response
  " #
matrix for t > 0. At t ¼ 0, we have s1 r ðt ¼ 0Þ ¼ ½a1 , and ½K bb  ½K bs  fub ðtÞg fP b ðtÞg 0
 1  þ h i ¼  ; ð25Þ
s_ r ðt ¼ 0Þ ¼ ½a2 . The displacement unit-impulse response matrix ½K sb  e ss
K fus ðt Þg fPs ðt Þg fQ ðtÞg
 
and its derivative are discretized as ½sn ¼ s1 r ðt ¼ nDtÞ and
d½s1
r ðt¼nDtÞ where
½s_ n ¼ dt
. The relationship between ½sn and ½s_ n is, h i
e ss ¼ ½C ss  þ ½C 1 ;
C ð26aÞ
Dt  
½sn ¼ ½sn1 þ ½s_ n1 þ ½s_ n ; ð17Þ h i
2 e ss ¼ ½K ss  þ ½K 1 ;
K ð26bÞ
where the trapezoidal rule has been applied. The convolution inte- Z t
gral in Eq. (16) is also calculated using the trapezoidal rule, fQ ðt Þg ¼ ½S1
r ðsÞfus ðt  sÞgds: ð26cÞ
0
Z t n1 
X
  1  Dt
s1 The time integration of Eq. (25) can be performed using New-
r ðt  sÞ sr ðsÞ ds ¼ ½sj ½snj þ ½sjþ1 ½snj1 : ð18Þ
0 2 j¼0 mark’s method with parameters b and c. The convolution integral
(Eq. (26c)) is discretized with respect to time as,
The initial value ½s_ 0 can be obtained by solving Eq. (16) at t ¼ 0.
Dt X
n 
Based on the above assumptions, at each time step t ¼ nDt for
fQ ðt Þg ¼ ½S1
r j fus gnj þ fus gnjþ1 ; ð27Þ
n P 1; ½s_ n can be obtained by solving the following equation, 2 j¼1

½An ½s_ n þ ½s_ n ½ATn þ ½Bn ¼ 0; ð19Þ It is worth noting that, in the time integration, the size of the
summation in Eq. (27) increases. Here, the computational effort
with coefficients
associated with evaluating the convolution integral is proportional

Dt 2 Dt to n2 , where n is the number of time steps. Note that S1 r ðtÞ repre-
½An ¼ ½s0 þ ½p þ ½c1 ; ð20aÞ
4 2 sents the lingering response [5], and
 thus  converges to zero. Thus,
Xn1
Dt  h^i h^i  hi h i it can be truncated. If we assume S1 r ðtÞ ¼ 0 for all t P T N ¼ N Dt,
½Bn ¼ Dt ½sj ½snj þ ½s0 s_ þ s_ ½s0 þ ½p ^s_ þ ^s_ ½pT ; ð20bÞ Eq. (27) is changed into,
j¼1
2 n n n n

Dt X
N 
where fQ ðt Þg ¼ ½S1
r j fus gnj þ fus gnjþ1 ; ð28Þ
2 j¼1
h i Dt
^s_ ¼ ½s ½s_  :
n1 þ ð21Þ
n 2 n1 for n P N, which means that the number of terms of the summation
After ½s_ n has been calculated, ½sn can be obtained by evaluating does not increase further after the truncation time. Thus, the com-
Eq. (17). Finally, the displacement unit-impulse response matrix putational effort associated with evaluating the convolution inte-
follows from gral only grows linearly with time after the truncation.
  T 1
S1
r ðt ¼ nDtÞ ¼ ½Sn ¼ ½U ½sn ½U : ð22Þ 5. Viscous damping model for layered soil

So far, material damping has not been considered in the pre-

4. Coupling of unbounded domain and bounded domain sented formulation. In this section, a viscous damping model is
proposed, which can be used for the time-domain analysis of
In a soil–structure interaction analysis, the bounded domain waves in layered soil. Although damping is an important physical
representing the near field is typically discretized using the finite phenomenon which always exists in reality, its mathematical
element method. The scaled boundary finite element method can description is challenging. In general, various damping models
also be used to efficiently model dynamic problems in bounded are available. One approach which is widely used in the frequency
domains [52]. In both cases, the near field is described by equations domain is hysteretic damping. Here, a complex elastic modulus is
of motion of the form, used, whose imaginary part represents the damping effect. Using
½Mbb  ½Mbs  € b ðt Þg
fu ½C bb  ½C bs  fu_ b ðtÞg the hysteretic damping model in the time domain, however, will
þ lead to the system being non-causal (Chapter 6.2 in [53]). In
½M sb  ½M ss  € s ðt Þg
fu ½C sb  ½C ss  fu_ s ðt Þg
time-domain analyses, proportional damping models are desirable,
½K bb  ½K bs  fub ðtÞg fP b ðtÞg 0 because modal analysis techniques still apply. Rayleigh damping is
þ ¼  ; ð23Þ
½K sb  ½K ss  fus ðt Þg fPs ðt Þg fRðtÞg a special case of proportional damping, where the damping matrix
½C is defined as a linear combination of mass matrix ½M and stiff-
where ½M ; ½C  and ½K  are mass, material damping and stiffness
ness matrix ½K of a multiple degree of freedom system described
matrices, respectively; fuðt Þg, fu_ ðt Þg and fu
€ ðtÞg are displacement,
by standard equations of motion,
velocity and acceleration vectors, respectively. fP ðt Þg is the external
load vector. The subscripts s and b denote the nodes associated with
the generalised structure–soil interface and the remaining nodes of € ðt Þg þ ½C fu_ ðt Þg þ ½K fuðtÞg ¼ fPðtÞg;
½M fu ð29Þ
the bounded domain, respectively. fRðt Þg is the interaction force
vector, which represents the contribution of the unbounded domain ½C  ¼ a0 ½M þ a1 ½K: ð30Þ
 X. Chen et al. / Computers and Geotechnics 63 (2015) 1–12 5

The coefficients a0 and a1 are determined by specifying the

modal damping ratio for any two modes [54]. Although the Ray-
leigh damping model is widely used in practice, its extension to
the differential Eqs. (1) and (4) is not straightforward. As an alter-
native, a so-called exterior mass-proportional damping model as
proposed in [5], Section 11.2, is adopted. Detailed description of
this damping model can also be found in Ref. [55]. Here, a mass
proportional damping matrix 2f½M  is selected, where the damping Fig. 2. Semi-infinite layer with constant depth h.
coefficient f has a dimension of cs =h, indicating the rate of energy
loss per h=cs . According to [5], the stiffness matrix ½K is augmented
by f2 ½M , in order to achieve a concise formulation of the dynamic 6.1. Out-of-plane motion of homogeneous layer with constant depth
stiffness matrix. Eq. (29) can thus be written as
A semi-infinite layer with constant depth h is shown in Fig. 2. A
 
€ ðtÞg þ 2f½M fu_ ðtÞg þ ½K  þ f2 ½M fuðt Þg ¼ fPðt Þg:
½M f u ð31Þ prescribed displacement pattern is enforced on the vertical bound-
ary. The upper horizontal boundary is free and the lower horizontal
Applying the Fourier transform to Eq. (31) results in boundary is fixed. The vertical boundary is discretized using three-
 node line elements of equal length. The total number of degrees of
2
½K   ðx  ifÞ ½M  fU g ¼ fPg; ð32Þ freedom is equal to the number of the nodes, excluding the node
on the fixed boundary. The layered medium is assumed to be
homogeneous, with shear modulus G and mass density q. Its shear
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Eq. (32) shows that the exterior mass-proportional damping model
wave velocity is cs ¼ G=q.
corresponds to replacing the angular frequency x by a complex
The derivation of the analytical solution for the displacement
term ðx  ifÞ in the frequency domain.
unit-impulse response coefficient is briefly described here. The
This procedure is applied to the wave propagation problem in
scaled boundary finite element equation in nodal displacement
layered soil formulated in terms of the displacement unit-impulse
fU g of the semi-infinite layer is (Ref. [56], Chapter 4),
response. Substituting ix by ðix þ fÞ in Eq. (9) results in
h i h i x2 h i
    T   l k E0 fU g;nn  E2 fU g þ 2 E0 fU g ¼ 0: ð35Þ
½s ðxÞ þ e1 ½s1 ðxÞ þ e1
1 2
 e2  ðix þ fÞ K2 ¼ 0; cs

ð33Þ The nodal force fRg can be expressed as

h i
fRg ¼  E0 fU g;n : ð36Þ
Substituting Eq. (11) into Eq. (33), and rearranging the terms in
descending order of ðixÞ, Eqs. (13b) and (13c) are reformulated as, Eq. (35) can be decoupled using the following generalised eigen-
 T   value decomposition,
½c1 ½k1  þ ½k1 ½c1  þ ½c1  e1 þ e1  2f½c1  ¼ 0; ð34aÞ h i h i l k h i
2
  1   1 T 2
E2 ½U ¼ E0 ½U K2 =h ; ½UT E0 ½U ¼ ½I: ð37Þ
½c1 ½a1  þ ½a1 ½c1  þ ½k1  þ e ½k1  þ e  f ½c1  ¼ 0; ð34bÞ
 
In Eq. (37), k2 is a diagonal matrix containing the positive
The remaining part (i.e. Eq. (15)) is not affected by f, thus Eq.
eigenvalues. Pre-multiplying Eq. (35) by ½UT and substituting
(16) also does not change. It can be solved using the same time dis- n o
e yields,
fU g ¼ ½U U
cretization scheme proposed earlier, with different coefficients ½k1 
and ½a1 , determined using Eqs. (34a) and (34b). The procedure pro- n o  2 n o
posed in Section 4 for the computation of the displacements in the e x2 n e o k e ¼ 0:
U þ U  2 U ð38Þ
time-domain is not affected by the damping model. ;nn c2s h
 
Since k2 is a diagonal matrix, Eq. (38) is a set of decoupled dif-
n o
ferential equations. Assuming R e ¼ h½UT fRg, and pre-multiply-
6. Numerical examples
ing Eq. (36) by ½UT results in
In this section, the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed n o n o
e ¼ h U
R e : ð39Þ
method are evaluated using numerical examples. In Section 6.1, a ;n
benchmark example, the out-of-plane motion of a homogeneous
layer, is investigated. In this example, the SBFE equations in the The modal force–displacement relationship is expressed as,
n o h in o
frequency domain can be decoupled and an analytical solution e ¼ e e :
R S 1 ð xÞ U ð40Þ
for the modal displacement unit-impulse response coefficient can
be obtained. These analytical solutions are used to verify the Using Eqs. (38) and (39), it can be shown that the dynamic stiff-
numerical results obtained using the proposed time discretization h i
ness matrix e S 1 ðxÞ is diagonal with
approach.
In Section 6.2, the in-plane motion of a homogeneous layer is sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2
examined. The stability and the accuracy of the proposed method e h
S1j ðxÞ ¼ k2j  2 x2 : ð41Þ
are further investigated. The effect of the cut-off frequency of the cs
layer on the time domain solution is also studied. The numerical
Applying the inverse Fourier transform to Eq. (41) yields the analyt-
efficiency and the effect of introducing a truncation time are then
ical solution of the diagonalized displacement unit-impulse
investigated. l k
In Section 6.3, the interaction of two foundations embedded in a response matrix e S 1 ðt Þ with r

piecewise homogeneous layered system is analysed, to demon- c

strate the robustness of the new algorithm and its applicability e cs k2j s
S1j ðt Þ ¼ J1 kj t : ð42Þ
to realistic problems. ht h
6 X. Chen et al. / Computers and Geotechnics 63 (2015) 1–12
The coupled displacement unit-impulse response matrix is cal-
culated as
  l k
T e1
S1
r ðt Þ ¼ ½U S r ðt Þ ½U=cs :
This analytical expression is used as a reference solution in the
following.
To obtain a numerical solution, the vertical boundary is
discretized first using 4 or 8 elements. After the displacement
unit-impulse response matrix is obtained, a linearly varying motion
pattern is enforced on the displacement unit-impulse response
matrix. The resulting scalar unit-impulse response coefficient is
compared to the analytical solution in Fig. 3. Excellent agreement
between the numerical results and the analytical solution is
obtained using a time step size of Dt ¼ 0:2h=cs for both meshes. This
indicates that the results are converged in terms of accuracy of the
displacement unit-impulse response coefficient due to a prescribed
linearly varying motion pattern. In order to demonstrate that the
numerical method is stable for problems with a considerably larger
number of degrees of freedom, a very fine mesh with 40 elements,
yielding a total of 80 degrees of freedom, is analysed for compari-
son. The time step size remains unchanged at 0:2h=cs . The corre-
sponding result is included in Fig. 3. The numerical results
obtained with the very fine mesh still agree with the analytical
solution very well and no instability is observed.
6.2. In-plane motion of homogeneous layer with constant depth
In this example, the in-plane motion of a homogeneous layer
subject to a uniformly distributed horizontal load pðt Þ as illustrated
in Fig. 4 is examined. The top of the layer is free and the bottom is
fixed, and h is the depth of the layer. The material properties of the
layer are Young’s modulus E ¼ 125 MPa, mass density q ¼
2500 kg=m3 and Poisson’s ratio m ¼ 0:3. The vertical boundary is
discretized using 10 three-node line elements of equal length,
yielding a total of 40 degrees of freedom. The time dependence of
the horizontal load pðtÞ is given as a triangular pulse of maximum
value P and duration T D , as shown in Fig. 5 for T D ¼ 6cs =h.
The displacement unit-impulse response matrix is first calcu-
lated using the proposed method. Its stability and accuracy are
examined. The dynamic stiffness matrix is also calculated for illus-
tration. Two different load cases corresponding to frequency
ranges excluding or including the cut-off frequency, respectively,
are considered. The effect of the cut-off frequency on the calculated
displacement is examined. Finally, the computational effort associ-
ated with the proposed method is investigated.
0.6
Nomalized displacement unit-impulse response
0.5
0.4
coefficient S(t)*h/cs
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
0 5 10
Dimensionless me t*cs/h
Fig. 3. Displacement unit-impulse response coefficient corresponding to prescribed
linearly varying out-of-plane motion pattern applied to homogeneous soil layer.
p (t)
h ∞
ð43Þ
Fixed
Fig. 4. Semi-infinite layer subject to horizontal load.
Fig. 5. Horizontal load pðtÞ varying as a triangular pulse.
After the displacement unit-impulse response matrix is calcu-
lated, a motion pattern of linearly varying horizontal displacement
and zero vertical displacement is enforced on it, reducing the dis-
placement unit-impulse response matrix to a scalar quantity. The
resulting displacement unit-impulse response coefficient is shown
in Fig. 6. Three different time step sizes have been considered. The
displacement unit-impulse response coefficient computed using a
relatively large time step size of Dt ¼ 0:05h=cs is stable, but not
accurate, as the results converge at Dt ¼ 0:02h=cs . This illustrates
that the choice of time step is governed by accuracy in the pro-
posed method. Stability can be guaranteed as long as the desired
accuracy is achieved.
The dynamic stiffness matrix ½S1 ðxÞ is then calculated. For any
given frequency x, ½S1 ðxÞ can be obtained by solving the alge-
braic Riccati Eq. (4). The dynamic stiffness ½S1 ðxÞ is non-dimen-
sionalized by a factor 1=Gh. For the given discretization, ½S1 ðxÞ
is a 40  40 matrix. The diagonal term S1;1 ðxÞ and the off-diagonal
term S1;40 ðxÞ are plotted in Figs. 7 and 8, respectively. Here, the
degree of freedom 1 corresponds to the horizontal displacement
of the node just above the fixed bottom, whereas the degree of
freedom 40 corresponds to the vertical displacement at the top
of the soil layer. For verification, the dynamic stiffness components
obtained by applying the inverse Fourier transform to the numer-
ically obtained displacement unit-impulse response matrix using
8
Nomalized displacement unit-impulse response
4 elements Δt = 0.05h/cs
8 elements 6
Δt = 0.02h/cs
40 elements
Δt = 0.01h/cs
coefficient S(t)*h/cs
Analycal
4
2
0
-2
15 20 0 1 2 3 4 5
Dimensionless me t*cs /h
Fig. 6. Displacement unit-impulse response coefficient corresponding to prescribed
linearly varying in-plane motion of semi-infinite layer.
 X. Chen et al. / Computers and Geotechnics 63 (2015) 1–12 7

3.5 1

By solving Ricca Equaon

Imaginary part of one diagonal term

0.8
Real part of one diagonal term of

3 By inverse FFT

of [S∞(ω)]/Gh
0.6
[S∞(ω)]/Gh

2.5

0.4

2 By solving Ricca Equaon

0.2
By inverse FFT

1.5 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Dimensionless frequency a0=ωcs/h Dimensionless frequency a0=ωcs/h
(a) Real part (b) Imaginary part

Fig. 7. Diagonal term S1;1 of dynamic stiffness matrix ½S1 ðxÞ of homogeneous semi-infinite layer.

0.06 0.08

By solving Ricca Equaon By solving Ricca Equaon

0.04
0.06
Real part of one off-diagonal term of

Imaginary part of one off-diagonal

By inverse FFT By inverse FFT
0.02
0.04
0 term of [S∞(ω)]/Gh
[S∞(ω)]/Gh

-0.02 0.02

-0.04 0

-0.06
-0.02
-0.08
-0.04
-0.1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Dimensionless frequency a0=ωcs/h
Dimensionless frequency a0=ωcs/h
(b) Imaginary part
(a) Real part

Fig. 8. Off-diagonal term S1;40 of dynamic stiffness matrix ½S1 ðxÞ of homogeneous semi-infinite layer.

Dt ¼ 0:02h=cs is also computed and included in Figs. 7 and 8. Excel- oscillation corresponds to propagating modes, which are excited
lent agreement can be observed, confirming the accuracy of the beyond the cut-off frequency and which decay very slowly. This
proposed method. study thus demonstrates, that the proposed method is suitable
The cut-off frequency of the shear wave in a homogeneous layer for modelling both evanescent and propagating modes of semi-
is p2 cs =h [57,58]. This is confirmed in Figs. 7 and 8, which show that infinite layered systems.
the imaginary part of ½S1 ðxÞ is zero below a0 ¼ p2 . When a uni- The choice and effect of a truncation time are studied. A crite-
formly distributed triangular pulse is applied on the vertical rion for the choice of the truncation time has been discussed in
boundary of the layer, two different durations, T D ¼ 6h=cs and Ref. [59]. As the displacement unit-impulse response matrix is
T D ¼ 8h=cs , are considered. The Fourier transforms of both pulses decaying to zero, a tolerance parameter 0 tol0 is prescribed and the
are shown in Fig. 9. The dimensionless frequency range of interest normalised Frobenius norm F ðtÞ=F ð0Þ of the displacement unit-
of the pulse of duration T D ¼ 6h=cs is 2 6 a0 6 þ2. This frequency impulse response matrix is calculated for each point in time, where
range includes the cut-off frequency. The dimensionless frequency
range of the longer pulse of duration T D ¼ 8h=cs is approximately !12
X n 
n X
1:5 6 a0 6 þ1:5, and thus below the cut-off frequency.   2

The horizontal displacement of the top left corner of the layer F ðt Þ ¼ S1

r ðt Þ ij : ð44Þ
i¼1 j¼1
due to the triangular pulse is calculated. In order to verify the
result, the displacement is also calculated in the frequency domain If F ðtÞ=F ð0Þ 5 tol is satisfied, the corresponding time is the trun-
and transformed to the time domain by applying the inverse Fou- cation time T 0 . The proof of the applicability of this criterion can be
rier transform. Results are shown in Fig. 10, where the labels ‘‘by found in [59]. Fig. 11 shows the normalised Frobenius norm of the
convolution’’ and ‘‘by inverse FFT’’ refer to the proposed method displacement unit-impulse response matrix of the semi-infinite
and the reference solution, respectively. Excellent agreement is layer considered in this example versus the dimensionless time.
observed confirming the correct formulation and implementation A truncation time of T 0 ¼ 5h=cs is obtained, if the tolerance is cho-
of the proposed time domain formulation. If the frequency range sen as 0 tol0 = 0.001. The horizontal displacement ux of the top left
of the loading does not include the cut-off frequency of the layer, corner of the layer subject to the triangular pulse described
no further oscillation is observed in the displacement solution after earlier is calculated using this truncation time, and compared to
the initial amplification. On the contrary, the layer will continue to the solution obtained without truncating the displacement unit-
oscillate, indicating a certain amount of resonance, if the frequency impulse response in Figs. 12 and 13 for T D ¼ 6h=cs and T D ¼
range of the loading includes the cut-off frequency. This ongoing 8h=cs , respectively.
8 X. Chen et al. / Computers and Geotechnics 63 (2015) 1–12

(a) TD = 6h/cs (b) TD = 8h/cs

Fig. 9. Dimensionless Fourier transform of triangular pulse of duration T D .

1 0.8
Above the cut-off frequency, by convoluon
0.8 Above the cut-off frequency, by inverse FFT No truncaon
0.6
T'=25h/cs
Horizontal displacment ux*E/P

Below cut-off frequency, by convoluon

Horizontal displacement ux*E/P

T'=5h/cs
0.6 Below cut-off frequency, by inverse FFT
0.4

0.4
0.2

0.2
0
0
-0.2
-0.2

-0.4
-0.4 0 10 20 30 40
0 5 10 15 20 Dimensionless me t*cs/h
Dimensionless me t*cs/h
Fig. 12. Horizontal displacement due to the triangular pulse of duration 6h=cs .
Fig. 10. Horizontal displacement ux at the top of the semi-infinite soil layer due to
uniformly distributed triangular pulse of duration T D .

0.8

10
0 No truncaon
the displacement unit−impulse respons matrix

T'=5h/cs
0.6 T'=2h/cs
Horizontal displacment ux*E/P

−1
Nomalized Frobenius norm of

10
0.4
−2
10
0.2
−3
10

0
−4
10

-0.2
−5
0 5 10 15 20
10 Dimensionless me t*cs/h
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Dimensionless time tc /h
s Fig. 13. Horizontal displacement due to the triangular pulse of duration 8h=cs .

Fig. 11. Normalised Frobenius norm of the displacement unit-impulse response

matrix of semi-infinite layer.
Truncating earlier at T 0 ¼ 2h=cs only slightly affects the accuracy
of the results. If the frequency range of the load includes the cut-
For the triangular pulse of duration T D ¼ 8h=cs , i.e. with a fre- off frequency, however, the truncation may cause a considerable
quency range below the cut-off frequency, the results obtained error at late times, as can be seen in Fig. 12 for T 0 ¼ 5h=cs . Here,
truncating the displacement unit-impulse response at T 0 ¼ 5h=cs the error caused by the truncation is magnified and accumulated
agree very well with solution computed without any truncation. during the ongoing oscillation phase, after the initial pulse has
 X. Chen et al. / Computers and Geotechnics 63 (2015) 1–12
been applied. Therefore, a later truncation time should be chosen.
Reducing the acceptable tolerance to 0:0001, which corresponds to
increasing the truncation time to T 0 ¼ 25h=cs , leads to a signifi-
cantly better agreement between the two displacement solutions.
It is worth noting, that the oscillation lasts for a very long time,
since material damping is not considered in this example. If the
total time of interest is longer, the displacement unit-impulse
response may have to be truncated later. The material damping,
which always exists in reality, will lead to a faster decay of the
oscillation. Thus, the displacement unit-impulse response matrix
can be truncated earlier. The effect of damping will be discussed
in Section 6.3.
Finally, the total CPU time is recorded versus the (dimension-
less) time range of interest, and shown in Fig. 14. The CPU time cor-
responding to the original algorithm [5] based on the acceleration
unit-impulse response matrix is also given for comparison. In gen-
eral, the proposed algorithm leads to reduced computational effort,
since bigger time steps can be used in calculating the displacement
unit-impulse response matrix as well as in evaluating the time
integration. If no truncation is applied, the computational effort
is proportional to the square of the number of time-steps. Truncat-
ing the displacement unit-impulse response leads to a further sig-
nificant reduction in CPU time, since the effort only grows linearly
after the truncation time.
6.3. Two strip foundations embedded in piecewise homogeneous soil
layer
In this example, two strip foundations of rectangular shape
embedded in a piecewise homogeneous layered system are
addressed (Fig. 15). The depth of each sublayer is h=2. The shear
moduli of sublayers 1 and 2 are G1 ¼ 75 MPa and G2 ¼ 1:5G1 ,
respectively. Both sublayers have the same mass density
q ¼ 2000 kg=m3 and Poisson’s ratio m ¼ 0:3. The material proper-
ties of the foundations are Gf ¼ 0:8 GPa; qf ¼ 2500 kg=m3 and
mf ¼ 0:25. The total depth of the system is h ¼ 8 m.
The system is split into the near field comprising the two foun-
dations and the soil between and below the foundations, and two
semi-infinite layered domains extending towards infinity to the
left and right, respectively. The near field is modelled using the
scaled boundary finite element method for bounded domains
[52]. To this end, it is further decomposed into rectangular subdo-
mains as indicated in Fig. 16 for the case d ¼ h. In Fig. 16 subdo-
main 1 and subdomain 8 correspond to the two foundations. In
the following study, the distance d between the two foundations
will be varied, where d can assume integer multiples of h. For
d P 2h, similar subdomains are added to the area between the
200
180
Original algorithm
160 Full Convoluon
Truncate at 25h/cs
140
Truncate at 5h/cs
CPU Time (in sec)
120
100
80
60
40
20
0 applied to both the bounded near field and the semi-infinite soil
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Dimensionless me t*cs/b
Fig. 14. CPU time required for calculation against dimensionless time.
9
two foundations. The scaling centre of each bounded rectangular
subdomain is located at the centre of the corresponding rectangle.
The dynamic stiffness matrix of each rectangular bounded domain
is expanded into a series of continued fractions, which corresponds
to an equation of motion with high-order mass and stiffness matri-
ces, which can be assembled in a global time-domain formulation.
The boundaries of all bounded subdomains as well as the vertical
boundaries of the two unbounded domains are discretized using
three-node line elements of equal length of 0:05h.
The interaction of the two foundations through the soil is stud-
ied. A uniformly distributed load varying as a triangular pulse as
shown in Fig. 5 is applied to the top of the left foundation (active
foundation). The resulting vertical displacement at the centre of
the top surface of the right foundation (passive foundation) is cal-
culated. First, the effect of the distance between the two founda-
tions is studied. Then, the ratio of the shear moduli of the two
sublayers is varied. Finally, material damping in the soil will be
considered.
6.3.1. Effect of the distance between the two foundations
For the purpose of examining the influence of the distance
between the two foundations, three different distances d ¼ 2h; 3h
and 4h are considered. The ratio of the shear moduli of the two soil
sublayers is G2 =G1 ¼ 1:5. For b ¼ 2h, the system is also analysed
using an extended finite element mesh. Here, a system of total
length 25h is modelled, so that for the time duration of 10h=cs ,
the longitudinal wave will not reach the boundary of the extended
mesh. Eight-node quadrilateral elements of uniform size
0:05h  0:05h are used in the FE mesh, resulting in a total of
17,200 elements. The vertical displacement at the centre of the
top surface of the passive foundation is plotted in Fig. 17. The
results obtained using the proposed method agree very well with
the displacements computed using the extended mesh, confirming
the accuracy of the scaled boundary finite element approach for
layered media.
In Fig. 17, it is observed that increasing the distance between
the two foundations leads to a significant reduction of the initial
displacement amplitude. This initial peak corresponds to the
instantaneous response to the applied load. It is the smaller, the
further the wave propagates. The later oscillatory behaviour of
the displacement corresponds to the lingering response. It is only
slightly affected by the distance between the two foundations.
6.3.2. Effect of different material properties
Now, the distance between the two foundations is fixed to
d ¼ 2h, while three different ratios of the shear moduli
G2 =G1 ¼ 2; 1:5 and 1 are considered. Since the mass density and
Poisson’s ratio of the two sublayers are constant, the ratio of shear
moduli is directly related to the ratio of wave velocities,
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
c2 =c1 ¼ G2 =G1 . The vertical displacement of the passive founda-
tion is plotted in Fig. 18. It can be seen that, increasing the ratio
G2 =G1 , leads to a significant reduction of both the instantaneous
and lingering response.
6.3.3. Effect of damping
Material damping is considered in this section. The distance
between the two foundations is d ¼ 2h and the ratio of the shear
moduli of the two soil sublayers is G2 =G1 ¼ 1:5. Damping ratios
of f ¼ 2% and 5% are considered. For simplicity, the same damping
ratio is assumed for the foundations and the soil. The exterior
mass-proportional damping model described in Section 5 is
40
layers. The equation of motion of the near field is established using
the continued fraction expansion of the dynamic stiffness matrix
proposed in [52]. In the frequency domain, it is expressed as
10 X. Chen et al. / Computers and Geotechnics 63 (2015) 1–12

Fig. 15. Two strip foundations embedded in piecewise homogeneous soil layer.


2
½K h  þ ðixÞ ½M h  fyg ¼ ff g; ð45Þ

where ½K h  and ½Mh  are high-order stiffness and mass matrices. The
symbols fyg and ff g denote the extended displacement vector and
force vector, respectively. Note that fyg contains all degrees of free-
dom of the near field as well as additional internal variables. Substi-
tuting ix by ðix þ fÞ, and applying the inverse Fourier transform to
Eq. (45) results in
 
€ðt Þg þ 2f½M h fy_ ðt Þg þ ½K h  þ f2 ½Mh  fyðt Þg ¼ ff ðtÞg;
½M h fy ð46Þ

Eq. (46) can be coupled with the interaction force–displacement

Fig. 16. Decomposition of the near field into subdomains for d ¼ h.
0.15
Vercal displacement of the centre of the passive
relationship obtained from the unbounded domain as explained in
Section 4.
The displacement unit-impulse response of the two semi-infi-
nite layers, including the damping, is calculated according to Sec-

d=2h tion 5. The time step size for the time discretization of the
d=2h, extended mesh displacement unit-impulse presponse
ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi matrix is chosen as
0.1
d=3h Dt ¼ 0:02h=cs1 , where cs1 ¼ G1 =q. The normalised Frobenius
d=4h
norm of the displacement unit-impulse response is plotted in
foundaon u*E1/P

Fig. (19) for varying damping ratios, f ¼ 0; 0:02 and 0:05, respec-
0.05
tively. As f decreases, the normalised Frobenius norm is approach-
ing the undamped case. Fig. 19 also shows that, when damping is
included, the displacement unit-impulse response can be trun-
cated earlier for any given tolerance. In Section 6.2, it has been
0
shown that the truncation time for the undamped model should
be chosen as T 0 ¼ 25h=cs1 in order to achieve a tolerance of 104 ,
if the frequency content of the load contains the cut-off frequency.
-0.05
0 10 20 30 40 50 For the same tolerance of 104 , the corresponding truncation times
Dimensionless me t*cs1/h of the damped models are T 0 ¼ 13:5h=cs1 and T 0 ¼ 10h=cs1 for
f ¼ 0:02 and f ¼ 0:05, respectively.
Fig. 17. Vertical displacement at the top centre of the passive foundation due to Fig. 20 shows the effect of the truncation time on the vertical
uniformly distributed triangular pulse acting on the active foundation. Influence of
displacement of the passive foundation for f ¼ 0:02. Good agree-
the distance d between foundations.
ment of the results obtained with or without truncating the dis-
placement unit-impulse response is observed. The effect of

0.2
Vercal displacement of the centre of the passive

G2/G1 = 1 10
0

0.15 G2/G1 = 1.5 Undamped

Damped, ζ=0.02
G2/G1 = 2 −1 Damped, ζ=0.05
10
0.1
Normalized Frobenius norm
foundaon u*E1/P

−2
10
0.05
−3
10
0
−4
10
-0.05
−5
10
-0.1
−6
10
-0.15
−7
0 10 20 30 40 50 10
Dimensionless me t*cs1/h 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Dimensionless time tc /h
s1
Fig. 18. Vertical displacement at the top centre of the passive foundation due to
uniformly distributed triangular pulse acting on the active foundation. Influence of Fig. 19. Normalised Frobenius norm of the displacement unit-impulse response
ratio of shear moduli of the two sublayers. matrix of one piecewise homogeneous soil layer.

0.15
Vercal displacement of the center of the passive
ζ=2% No truncaon
0.1
ζ=2% T'=13.5h/cs1
foundaon u*E1/P
0.05
0 Acknowledgement
-0.05
0 10 20
Dimensionless me t*cs1/h
Fig. 20. Vertical displacement at the top centre of the passive foundation due to
uniformly distributed triangular pulse acting on the active foundation. Effect of the
truncation time for f ¼ 0:02.
0.15
Vercal displacement of the center of the passive
0.1
foundaon u*E1/P
0.05
0
-0.05
0 10 20
Dimensionless me t*cs1/h
Fig. 21. Effect of damping on the vertical displacement at the top centre of the
passive foundation due to uniformly distributed triangular pulse acting on the
active foundation.
damping is also illustrated in Fig. 21, which shows the vertical dis-
placement of the passive foundation for varying f.
7. Conclusion
An efficient method for modelling wave propagation in layered
media has been proposed. It is based on deriving the displacement
unit-impulse response matrix of a semi-infinite layered system
from the scaled boundary finite element method. A time discretiza-
tion scheme for the calculation of the displacement unit-impulse
response matrix has been proposed which provides adequate accu-
racy and stability. A truncation time is introduced so that the size
of the discrete convolution in the interaction force–displacement
relationship does not increase after that. Thus, the computational
effort increases only linearly with time after the truncation. This
leads to a significant reduction of the computational time espe-
cially for long time simulation. A guideline for determining the
truncation time based on a specified tolerance of the Frobenius
norm of the displacement unit-impulse response matrix has been
given.
Moreover, a viscous model which can be used in a time-domain
analysis has been proposed. The existence of damping results in
the displacement unit-impulse response matrix decaying faster,
thus allowing for an earlier truncation. Using the proposed
method, typical 2D layered soil–structure interaction problems
X. Chen et al. / Computers and Geotechnics 63 (2015) 1–12 11
including damping can be solved with high accuracy and in a
highly efficient manner. Further work on extending the proposed
method to three-dimensional soil–structure interaction problems
is in progress.
Conflict of interest
There is no conflict of interest.
The authors wish to thank Mr. Hauke Gravenkamp for his help
in the computer programming of the dynamic stiffness of layered
30 40 50 media during his visit to the University of New South Wales. His
support and suggestions are gratefully acknowledged.
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