Large scale simulation of wave propagation in soils interacting with structures using FEM and SBFEM

Abstract

This paper applies a parallel algorithm for a coupled Finite Element/Scaled Boundary Element (FEM/SBFEM)-approach to study soil-structure-interaction problems. The application code is designed to run on clusters of computers, and it enables the analysis of large-scale problems. A crucial point of the approach is that the SBFEM fulfills the radiation condition. Hence, the hybrid numerical approach is well suited for such problems where wave propagation to infinity in an unbounded domain must be considered. The main focus of the paper is to show the applicability of the numerical implementation on large scale problems. First the coupled FEM/SBFEM approach is validated by comparing the numerical results with a semi-analytical solution for a settlement problem. Then the implemented algorithm is applied to study the dynamical behavior of founded wind energy plants under time dependent loading. © 2011 IMACS.