Vibrations of the elastic half-space due to vertical surface loads

The displacements of the surface of the homogeneous elastic half-space subjected to a vertical concentrated load acting at the surface are calculated. The solution is shown to approach Lamb's simple formula for the far-field. The solution for the concentrated load can be used to calculate displacements due to distributed loads with high accuracy and economically. The results are applied to define the regions ‘near-field’ and ‘far-field’. Some near-field phenomena are described.     

Displacement produced in an elastic half-space by the impulsive torsional motion of a circular ring source

Summary In this paper the problem of disturbance in an elastic semi-infinite medium due to the torsional motion of a circular ring source on the free surface of a medium are studied. Two cases, when the medium is either homogeneous or inhomogeneous, are treated. In order to solve the problem, the Laplace transform and the Hankel transform and the Laplace inversion by Cagniard's method as modified byDe Hoop (1959) are applied. Finally, the integrals for displacement are evaluated numerically. The displacement on the free surface as a function of time is shown by means of graphs, in the case of both a homogeneous and an inhomogeneous medium, indicating clearly the variation in displacement due to the presence of an inhomogeneity.     

Effect of couple-stresses in a semi-infinite elastic medium due to impulsive twist over the surface

Summary Displacement due to impulsive twist in a semi-infinite elastic medium is calculated in the light of Cosserats theory of couple stresses [1, 2]. Numerical results are obtained for a particular     

Wave motion due to impulsive twist on the surface

Summary Wave motion due to two kinds of impulsive twist on the surface has been discussed. The discontinuous nature of solution has been obtained. A function-theoretic approach has been made for solving the problem.     

Disturbance produced in an elastic half-space by impulsive normal pressure

Summary The displacement produced in the half-space by uniform impulsive pressure acting over a circular portion of the surface has been obtained in terms of definite integrals. FollowingCagniard andGarvin, the displacement at an interior point on the axis of symmetry has been calculated. The approximate displacement at points far off from the axis of symmetry has been obtained by using saddle point method and Tauberian limit theorem.     

Ground motion amplification due to elastic inclusions in a half-space

Scattering of plane harmonic SH, P, SV and Rayleigh waves by several inclusions of arbitrary shape, completely embedded into an elastic half-space, is considered. Perfect bonding between the half-space and the inclusions is assumed. The problem is investigated for linear, isotropic and homogeneous elastic materials. The displacement field is evaluated throughout the elastic medium so that the continuity conditions between the half-space and the inclusions are satisfied in mean-square sense. Numerical results of the surface displacement field are evaluated for single and two elliptic inclusions. The results show the following: (a) presence of a subsurface inhomogeneity may lead to large amplifications of the surface ground motion; (2) different surface displacement patterns emerge for different incident waves; (3) the presence of an additional inclusion may change significantly the surface displacement response of a single inclusion; (4) the surface motion extremes strongly depend upon (i) angle of incidence; (ii) frequency of incident field; (iii) embedment depth of the inclusions; (iv) separation distance between the inclusions; (v) material properties of the half-space and the inclusions; and (vi) location of observation point on the surface of the half-space.     

A fundamental solution of a multilayered half-space due to an impulsive ring source

The fundamental solutions of axisymmetric elastodynamic problem for the multilayered half-space due to an impulsive ring source acting within a layered elastic media are derived in time domain with the aid of Laplace–Hankel mixed transform and transfer matrix techniques. In addition, an effective numerical procedure, which utilizes the fast Hankel transform algorithm, is also proposed to calculate these solutions. Illustrative examples have been given to demonstrate that the fundamental solutions can be readily evaluated and the numerical results are of high accuracy. The present solutions can be directly applied to determine the transient wave fields caused by a seismic source and show the potential application to the elastodynamic problems solved by the boundary element method.     

Waves and stresses produced in an elastic medium due to impulsive radial forces and twist on the surface of a spherical cavity

Summary Displacements and stresses produced by impulsive radial pressure and by impulsive twists have been determined. In the former case total flow of energy across a spherical boundary has been obtained.     

The dynamics of a rigid foundation on the surface of an elastic half-space

The response of a rigid rectangular foundation block resting on an elastic half-space has been determined by considering first the displacement functions for any position on the surface of an unloaded half-space due to a harmonic point force. The influence of the foundation has been taken into account by assuming a relaxed condition at the interface, i.e. a uniform displacement under the foundation and that the sum of the point forces must equal the total applied force. The three motions of vertical, horizontal and rocking have been considered and numerical values for the in-phase and the quadrature components of the displacement functions are presented for a Poisson's ratio of 0.25. The effect of the mass and inertia of the foundation can be allowed for by an impedance matching technique. Response curves and non-dimensional resonant frequency curves are given for a square and a rectangular foundation for different mass and inertia ratios and for several values of Poisson's ratio. These curves are for design purposes and are an addition to similar published curves for circular and infinitely long rectangular foundations. Some of the calculated results have been verified by a laboratory experiment.     

A fundamental solution due to a periodic point force in the interior of an elastic half-space

The fundamental solution for a periodic point force in the interior of a three-dimensional, homogeneous, isotropic, elastic half-space is derived. The method of synthesis and superposition is employed to obtain the solution in the Laplace transform as well as the frequency domain. These correspond to the dynamic equivalent of Mindlin's static half-space point force solutions. It is reduced, for certain limiting conditions, to the dynamic equivalent of Boussinesq's and Cerruti's problems of a normal and tangential periodic point force respectively, on the boundary of a half-space. Also, static solutions of Mindlin, Boussinesq and Cerruti are recovered for small frequency parameters. Finally, results are presented and compared with other available solutions.     

ASH-source in an elastic half-space with a non-homogeneous surface layer

Summary The response of an elastic half-space with a non-homogeneous surface layer due to aSH-source operating in the non-homogeneous layer of an elastic half-space have been studied. The elastic and physical constants vary exponentially in the surface layer. The surface displacement consists of several integrals. On approximate evaluation of these integrals, they are identified as direct or reflected pulses.     

Transient disturbance produced in an elastic half-space by impulsive shearing traction distributed over a circular region

The displacement produced in a semi-infinite, homogeneous, isotropic elastic medium by the application of shearing traction over a circular portion of the half-space has been evaluated in exact form by Cagniard's Technique (Cagniard, 1962;Gakenheimer andMiklowitz, 1969).     

On stresses and displacements due to a moving line load over the plane boundary of a heterogeneous elastic half-space

Summary The problem of concentrated line load moving with supersonic speed along the boundary of an isotropic heterogeneous medium has been solved as a plane strain problem. The stresses and displacements in the heterogeneous case considered are found to decay exponentially with distance.     

On the displacements produced in a porous elastic half-space by an impulsive line load. (Non-dissipative case)

Summary On the basis of Biot's dynamical theory of poroelasticity the disturbance produced by an impulsive line load in a porous elastic half-space is studied. Using the Laplace-Fourier transform we have solved for the displacement potentials in terms of which the displacements and stresses in the transformed space are expressible. The expressions for the solid displacements in the interior as well as on the surface of the half-space are obtained by Cagniard's technique. The displacements are expressed in terms of six algebraic terms — three of which are identified as the disturbance due to specific wave fronts and the others represent the head wave contributions. When specialized our results agree with those for the common elastic half-space.     

Peak surface motion due to scattering of plane harmonic P,SV, or Rayleigh waves by a rough cavity embedded in an elastic half-space

Scattering of plane harmonic P, SV, or Rayleigh waves by a two-dimensional rough cavity completely embedded in an isotropic elastic half-space is investigated by using a direct boundary integral equation method. The cavity’s roughness is assumed to be in the form of periodic or random perturbations of arbitrary amplitude superimposed to a smooth elliptical shape. For the randomly corrugated cavities the normal or the uniform probability distribution functions are assumed. Based on multiple random cavity results, the corresponding average surface response is computed. These are compared with the corresponding periodically corrugated and smooth cavity responses. The surface response is evaluated for different cavity shapes and incident waves and for a range of frequencies. The surface motion results are used to determine the peak surface motion frequencies. They depend strongly upon the basic inclusion shape (the principal axes) and the nature of the incident wave. Strong similarity in the peak surface motion frequencies can be observed for the rough and smooth cavity models for both circular and elliptical shapes. In order to quantify the importance of the cavity corrugation upon the surface motion, a roughness influence factor is defined in terms of the rough and smooth cavity surface responses. This factor strongly depends upon the type of the incident wave, the nature of the cavity corrugation, the basic cavity shape, and the frequency. The factor clearly shows the effect of the cavity roughness upon the surface motion.     

Response of a circular foundation on a uniform half-space to elastic waves

An alternative technique to obtain the dynamic response of a massless rigid circular foundation resting on a uniform elastic half-space when subjected to harmonic plane waves is presented. The technique relies on the use of an integral representation involving the free-field ground motion and the contact tractions obtained in the course of calculating the dynamic force–displacement relationship of the foundation for external forces. Tables listing the translational and rotational components of the response of the foundation for non-vertically incident SH, P, SV and Rayleigh waves are presented.     

Response of a plate and elastic half-space to harmonic waves

Analytical results are presented for the dynamic interaction of an elastic flexural plate and an elastic half-space subjected to harmonic seismic waves. Displacements and contact stresses are presented for square, massless plates having a practical range of flexural stiffness and subjected to incident waves oriented parallel to either an edge or a diagonal of the plate. The behaviour of massive plates is also briefly discussed; such plates exhibit additional resonances higher than those normally associated with the motion of a rigid mass.     

Torsional vibrations of elastic foundations embedded in an elastic half-space

This paper examines the axisymmetric torsional vibrations of an elastic pile and a hemispherical foundation embedded in a homogeneous elastic half-space. The embedded foundation–half-space system is decomposed into an extended half-space and a fictitious foundation. The deformations of the fictitious system are specified by an admissible function containing a set of generalized coordinates. The Lagrangian equations of motion are used to determine these coordinates associated with the assumed displacement function. Numerical results are presented for torsional impedance of an elastic pile and a hemisphere to illustrate the effects of relative flexibility and geometry. By employing certain simplifications on the pile–half-space system an approximate closed form solution is presented for the torsional impedance of an elastic pile.     

Why cone models can represent the elastic half-space

In lieu of the rigorous elastodynamical approach, many problems in foundation dynamics may be solved quite accurately via simple cone models of the soil. Although these cone models are amenable to very simple analysis, they have not yet been widely accepted in engineering practice. The reservations against their use are possibly due to the fact that cones are based on non-rigorous strength-of-materials assumptions, they neglect large portions of the half-space, and cannot represent Rayleigh surface waves. These potential objections are investigated step by step and proven to be unfounded. It turns out that cone models indeed incorporate and provide valuable insight into all the salient features of rigorous solutions; the aspects omitted by cones are revealed to be of minor physical importance.