Complex variable function method for the scattering of plane waves by an arbitrary hole in a porous medium

Based on the complex variable function method, a new approach for solving the scattering of plane elastic waves by a hole with an arbitrary configuration embedded in an infinite poroelastic medium is developed in the paper. The poroelastic medium is described by Biot's theory. By introducing three potentials, the governing equations for Biot's theory are reduced to three Helmholtz equations for the three potentials. The series solutions of the Helmholtz equations are obtained by the wave function expansion method. Through the conformal mapping method, the arbitrary hole in the physical plane is mapped into a unit circle in the image plane. Integration of the boundary conditions along the unit circle in the image plane yields the algebraic equations for the coefficients of the series solutions. Numerical solution of the resulting algebraic equations yields the displacements, the stresses and the pore pressure for the porous medium. In order to demonstrate the proposed approach, some numerical results are given in the paper.