Transient Response of Multiple Rigid Foundations on an Elastic, Homogeneous Half-Space

Three-dimensional transient response of both massless and massive multiple, rigid foundations, bonded to an elastic, homogeneous half-space, is investigated to study the effect of dynamic interaction through-soil. The numerical procedure is formulated in terms of the boundary element approach by means of the transient fundamental solutions developed by the authors (1994). This procedure works efficiently for the problem addressed here since the separated foundations are analyzed without discretizing the surface of the half-space outside the contact areas between the half-space and the foundations. It also provides the possibility to study nonlinear problems involved with semi-infinite soils.