First-order doubly-asymptotic formulation of the direct stiffness method for elastodynamic problems

A first-order formulation to analyze the dynamic response of layered soil profiles is presented as an alternative to the widely used second-order thin-layer method by the direct stiffness approach, including an efficient simulation of the underlaying elastic half-space. In contrast to the thin-layer method where response is expressed through a combination of second-order propagation modes, the proposed procedure uses first-order modal parameters that have the capacity to provide a good approximation in the complete wave number domain k, including the exact stiffness values for k=0 and k→∞, thus justifying its designation of doubly-asymptotic. This feature allows obtaining the exact soil profile response for static loads, while the proposed treatment of the elastic half-space reproduces naturally the radiation condition without a need of artificial damping. The capacity of the proposed formulation to solve elastodynamic problems is assessed by comparing its results with those of exact solutions available in the literature, and numerical solutions of rigid disks supported on the surface of different soil profiles.