1-D Finite Element Artificial Boundary Method for Saturated Layered Half-Space Site Response under Obliquely Incident P-SV Waves

A novel finite element scheme is derived to evaluate the transient dynamic response of a multi-layered saturated porous half-space due to obliquely incident P or SV wave. The system consists of N − 1 layers with different thickness and properties that overlay on a saturated half-space from which the wave is input. Biot theory is utilized to describe the mechanism of saturated poroelastic media. In this method finite computational area is truncated from the infinite domain by a horizontal artifitial boundary introduced in the underlying half-space. Wave inputting effects and absorbing boundary condition at the bounday are derived. The spatial problem is then transformed approximatedly into a one-dimensional problem based on the Snell’s law. The transient 1-D problem is descritized spacially by means of FEM and solved by the standard time intergration algorithm. Numerical examples show that the proposed 1-D finite element artificial boundary method can provide accurate results for seismic performance of saturated layerd half-space under obliquely incident waves with low values of permeability or frequency content. The method is applied in site response analysis of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao immersed tunnel project. By comparison with the analytical solutions, it is demonstrated for geotechnic earthquake engineering problems, site response solutions with satisfactory accuracy can be achieved by the proposed method.