Dynamic Green’s functions of a two-phase saturated medium subjected to a concentrated force

Abstract

The Green’s functions of a two-phase saturated medium subjected to a concentrated force are known to play an important role in seismology, earthquake engineering, soil dynamics, geophysics, and dynamic foundation theory. This paper presents a physical method for obtaining the dynamic Green’s functions of a two-phase saturated medium for materials considered to be isotropic and for low frequencies. First, the pore-fluid pressure in a two-phase saturated medium is divided into two parts: flow pressure and deformation pressure. Next, based on the compatibility condition of Biot’s equation and the property of the δ-function, the problem of coupled_fast and slow dilational waves is solved using the decomposition condition of the potential dilation field. The Green’s function for a concentrated force is then obtained by solving Biot’s complex modular equations, and their physical characteristics are discussed. The behavior of Green’s functions for the solid and fluid phases of a δ-impulsive force is investigated, from which the Green’s functions for a unit Heaviside force are also obtained by time integration. Finally, the present Green’s functions for a unit Heaviside force are compared with those obtained by a purely mathematical method; the two differ in form, but the numerical results are identical. The physical meaning of the expressions of Green’s functions obtained in this paper is evident. Therefore, the results may benefit future research on the dynamic responses of a two-phase saturated medium.