Static analysis of soil/pile interaction in layered soil by BEM/BEM coupling

In this article we propose to use the boundary element method (BEM) to analyze soil–foundation interactions. The soil structure is modeled as several dissimilar strata placed one on top of the other, composing a sandwich-like profile. Any of these layers may contain components of the foundations. Each region occupied by a soil layer or by a foundation component is handled as a 3D isotropic, elastic and homogeneous domain, and is analyzed by BEM. As a consequence of the positioning of the various subregions in this model, the technique of successive rigidity can be applied directly, resulting in a considerable reduction in the volume of data being stored and manipulated throughout the analysis.