On numerical computation of impedance functions for rigid soil-structure interfaces embedded in heterogeneous half-spaces

We present fully-discrete procedures for computing the impedance functions of rigid massless soil-structure interfaces that are embedded in arbitrarily heterogeneous half-spaces. The finite element method (FEM) is used for obtaining the wave responses of (visco-)elastic half-spaces truncated by Perfectly Matched Layers (PMLs), which provide the wave absorbing boundary conditions. The devised FEM-PML approach is verified in both time and frequency domains by using various benchmark solutions. Requirements on the prescribed input excitations for obtaining accurate impedances in the time domain as well as the relative computational cost of time- and frequency domain solutions are investigated. Accuracy of the implemented PMLs in extracting the impedance functions is also examined in comparison to Lysmer–Kuhlemeyer dashpots; and it was found that this simplified boundary treatment is generally inadequate. The utility of the proposed method is demonstrated by extracting the impedance matrix of rectangular and circular voids embedded in a linearly stiffening half-space. Impedance functions for such complex soil-structure systems are shown to be highly coupled and frequency-dependent due to wave reflections and interference caused by the soil heterogeneity and interface geometry. Fully discrete approaches, such as those proposed herein, are necessary to adequately capture these effects.