The diffraction of Rayleigh waves by a fluid-saturated alluvial valley in a poroelastic half-space modeled by MFS

•The diffraction of Rayleigh waves by a saturated poroelastic alluvial valley in a poroelastic half-space is accurately solved by the method of fundamental solutions (MFS).•The results of dynamic displacement and pore pressure are presented both in frequency and time domain for different incident frequencies, alluvium porosities and boundary drainage conditions.•It is revealed that the wave focusing effect both on the displacement and pore pressure can be observed inside the alluvial valley and the amplification effect seems more obvious for higher porosity and lower frequency.

Two dimensional diffraction of Rayleigh waves by a fluid-saturated poroelastic alluvial valley of arbitrary shape in a poroelastic half-space is investigated using the method of fundamental solutions (MFS). To satisfy the free surface boundary conditions exactly, Green’s functions of compressional (PI and PII) and shear (SV) wave sources buried in a fluid-saturated poroelastic half-space are adopted. Next, the procedure for solving the scattering wave field is presented. It is verified that the MFS is of excellent accuracy and numerical stability. Numerical results illustrate that the dynamic response strongly depends on such factors as the incident frequency, the porosity of alluvium, the boundary drainage condition, and the valley shape. There is a significant difference between the diffraction of Rayleigh waves for the saturated soil case and for the corresponding dry soil case. The wave focusing effect both on the displacement and pore pressure can be observed inside the alluvial valley and the amplification effect seems most obvious in the case of higher porosity and lower frequency. Additionally, special attention should also be paid to the concentration of pore pressure, which is closely related to the site liquefaction in earthquakes.