An analytical solution for wave-induced seabed response in a multi-layered poro-elastic seabed

In this study, a new analytical solution for the wave-induced seabed response in a multi-layered poro-elastic seabed is developed. The seabed is treated as a multi-layered porous medium and characterized by Biot’s theory. The displacements of the solid skeleton and the pore pressure are expressed in terms of two scalar potentials and one vector. Then, the Biot’s dynamic equation can be solved using Fourier transformation and reducing to Helmholtz equations. To obtain the general solutions for the multi-layered poro-elastic seabed in the frequency-wave-number domain, the transmission and reflection matrices (TRM) method is used to form the equivalent stiffness. Using the boundary conditions and continuous conditions, the frequency-wave-number domain solutions are obtained. Finally, the time-space domain solutions for the multi-layered poro-elastic seabed are obtained by means of the inverse Fourier transformation with respect to the horizontal coordinate. Based on the new solution, a parametric study is carried out to examine the effects of soil characteristics (number of layers, permeability and shear modulus) and wave characteristics (water depth and wave steepness) on seabed responses. The results indicate that the seabed response is affected significantly by permeability, shear modulus and relative water depth.