Coupled BEM/FEM approach for nonlinear soil/structure interaction
A general coupled boundary element/finite element formulation is presented for the investigation of dynamic soil/structure interaction including nonlinearities. It is applied to investigate the transient inelastic response of structures coupled with a halfspace. The structure itself and the surrounding soil in the near field are modeled with finite elements. In this part of the model inhomogeneities and an elastoplastic material behavior with hardening effects can be taken into account. The remaining soil region, i.e. the elastic halfspace, is discretized with the boundary elements. Thus wave radiation to infinity is included in the model. In representative examples it is shown that the methodology is computationally powerful and can be used efficiently for the nonlinear analyses of complex soil/structure interaction problems.
soil/structure interaction halfspace nonlinear calculations dynamic response fem/bem coupling transient analysis wave propagation