Time-domain radiation boundary for analysis of plane Love-wave propagation problem

Abstract

A new method of modelling the radiation effect in a time-domain finite element analysis of semi-infinite solids is proposed. The domain to be analysed is divided into a finite, interior region and a semi-infinite, exterior region. The standard finite elements are used to model the interior region. An infinite element is used to model the semi-infinite region. The main feature of the proposed method is the selection of semi-infinite shape functions to develop the infinite element. A procedure is proposed whereby the necessary shape functions are derived directly from frequency-domain analytical mode shapes. The interior and exterior regions are coupled by enforcing displacement continuity at the interface. The validity of the method is demonstrated in this paper by analysing a two-dimensional, linear (damped), anti-plane, shear-wave (plane Love-wave) propagation problem. The results obtained by the proposed method are compared with those obtained by direct finite element analysis with a fixed boundary placed sufficiently far from the location of loading to avoid wave reflections.