Techno Press
Techno Press

Earthquakes and Structures
  Volume 3, Number 3, June-August 2012 , pages 383-411
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/eas.2012.3.3.383
 


Wave propagation in unbounded elastic domains using the spectral element method: formulation
Kristel C. Meza Fajardo and Apostolos S. Papageorgiou

 
Abstract
    The objective of the present paper is to review and implement the most recent developments in the Spectral Element Method (SEM), as well as improve aspects of its implementation in the study of wave propagation by numerical simulation in elastic unbounded domains. The classical formulation of the method is reviewed, and the construction of the mass matrix, stiffness matrix and the external force vector is expressed in terms of matrix operations that are familiar to earthquake engineers. To account for the radiation condition at the external boundaries of the domain, a new absorbing boundary condition, based on the Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) is proposed and implemented. The new formulation, referred to as the Multi-Axial Perfectly Matched Layer (M-PML), results from generalizing the classical Perfectly Matched Layer to a medium in which damping profiles are specified in more than one direction.
 
Key Words
    elastic wave propagation; spectral element method; perfectly matched layer; engineering seismology
 
Address
Kristel C. Meza Fajardo: Departamento de Ingenieria Civil Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras (UNAH), Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Apostolos S. Papageorgiou: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras, GR-26500 Patras, Greece
 

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