Dynamic interaction analysis of a circular cylindrical shell of finite length in a half-space

A study on the transient response of a circular cylindrical shell of finite length embedded in a homogeneous, isotropic and linear elastic half-space is presented. The soil-structure system is subjected to suddenly applied explosion waves. The numerical method employed is a combination of the time domain semi-analytical boundary element method used for the semi-infinite soil medium and the finite strip method used for the circular cylindrical shell. The two methods are combined through equilibrium and compatibility conditions at the soil-structure interface. The dynamic responses at the interface between the soil medium and the structure for every time step are obtained. Numerical examples are presented in detail to demonstrate the use and versatility of the proposed method. The following parameters are found to affect the response: (1) the slenderness ratio of the length over the diameter of the shell, L/D; (2) the relative wall thickness, h/a; (3) the relative stiffness ratio between the shell and the medium, E_s/E_m; and (4) the incidence angle of the explosion wave, α.