Assessment of Computational Practices in Dynamic Soil‐Structure Interaction

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative study of the most widely used numerical methods in dynamic soil‐structure interaction (SSI). The developments follow in parallel treatments of representative SSI problems solved by frequency, the time‐domain boundary element method (BEM) and finite element method (FEM) formulations. Such treatments serve to enunciate the advantages and limitations of BEM and FEM formulations, and allow critical comparison of their differences and suitability to solve steady‐state and transient elastodynamic problems. Further, the in‐parallel presentation serves as a means of identifying possible sources of computational and modeling errors associated with several factors, such as improper modeling of the finite size structure and the supporting infinite soil medium, consideration of structural inertia, and appropriate coupling between boundary and finite element methods. Even though the examples are representative dynamic soil‐structure interaction problems, the remarks and observations are expected to be of value in the numerical treatment of structural dynamic problems solved through BEM and FEM formulations.