Wave propagation in the soil:

theoretical background and application to traffic induced vibrations

Geert Degrande
K.U.Leuven, Department of Civil Engineering, Kasteelpark Arenberg 40, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium

This paper reviews the direct stiffness method for the calculation of harmonic and transient wave propagation
in horizontally layered media. Developed in the early eighties by Kausel and Roësset, this method has become
a standard tool for the computation of the Green’s functions in layered media. As it is based on a superposition
of plane harmonic waves in the frequency-wavenumber domain, it is very useful as a didactical tool for elastic
wave propagation. The Green’s functions are subsequently used in a boundary element formulation to compute
the dynamic impedance of the soil in a subdomain formulation for dynamic soil-structure interaction. This is
illustrated for the case of road traffic induced vibrations, where the invariance of the problem domain in the
longitudinal direction is exploited by working in the wavenumber domain. A numerical example demonstrates
the influence of the soil stratification on free field vibrations during the passage of a two-axle truck on a traffic
plateau.

1 INTRODUCTION affecting the banded nature of the system matrices.

Wave propagation in the soil plays a crucial role in
problems of rail or road traffic induced vibrations in
buildings as it couples the source (the road or the
track) and the receiver (the building). Numerical mod-
els aiming to predict traffic induced vibration should
therefore account for dynamic soil-structure interac-
tion at the source and the receiver and incorporate a
model that accurately describes wave propagation in
the soil.
Volume gridding methods as the finite element
method, the finite difference method and the spectral
element method allow to model arbitrary layering. As
the soil is semi-infinite, however, absorbing bound-
ary conditions are needed that account for Sommer-
feld’s radiation conditions. Local absorbing boundary
conditions preserve the banded structure of the sys-
tem matrices, but cause spurious wave reflections at
the boundaries. Therefore, large mesh extensions are
needed at low frequencies. Furthermore, the element
length should be small enough with respect to the
smallest wavelength propagating through the model,
imposing small elements at high frequencies. Both
conditions result in models that may become pro-
hibitively large for 3D analyses. Consistent boundary
conditions or the combination with a boundary ele-
ment formulation do not produce spurious reflections
but couple all degrees of freedom along the boundary,
In this paper, we will briefly review the direct stiff-
ness formulation proposed by Kausel and Roësset
(1981) for the calculation of wave propagation in hor-
izontally layered elastic media. This method is based
on the decoupling of P-, SV- and SH-waves and the
superposition of plane harmonic waves in the fre-
quency wavenumber domain, which makes it very at-
tractive from a didactical point of view.
The method can be applied to various problems for-
mulated in multilayered media, as the computation of
amplification ratios, free surface waves and the har-
monic and transient response under external loads.
An example is the computation of the Green’s func-
tions of a layered halfspace, needed in a boundary ele-
ment formulation. As these Green’s functions implic-
itly account for the traction free condition at the free
surface, as well as displacement continuity and stress
equilibrium at layer interfaces, the boundary element
discretization can be efficiently restricted to the in-
terfaces between the soil and the structure(s). The dy-
namic soil-structure interaction problem can therefore
be formulated on interfaces between subdomains, as
is the case in the subdomain formulation proposed by
Aubry and Clouteau (1992).
A formulation in the frequency-wavenumber do-
main offers interesting perspectives for the compu-
tation of transfer functions in soil-structure interac-

1
tion problems that are invariant (roads) or periodic
(tracks, tunnels) in the longitudinal direction. Appli-
cation of the dynamic reciprocity theorem to the case
of moving loads allows for an efficient calculation of
the free field traffic induced vibrations. This will be il-
lustrated in the present paper with a numerical model
for road traffic induced vibrations (Lombaert et al.
2000), that has been extensively validated by means
of in situ vibration measurements (Lombaert and De-
grande 2001).
2 GOVERNING EQUATIONS
2.1 Equilibrium equations
In the Cartesian frame of reference, the displacement
components of the elastic medium are denoted as
( )
usi x; t . The components of the small strain tensor  sij
are computed with the following strain-displacement
relations:
tractions tsj (x; t) from the second order stress tensor
kj according to kj (x; t)nk . The Green’s tractions are
then denoted as the second order tensor tG ij ( ; x; t).
It will be outlined later how the Green’s functions
can be computed with a direct stiffness formulation.
2.3 The dynamic reciprocity theorem
The dynamic Betti-Rayleigh reciprocity theorem
specifies a relationship between a pair of elastody-
namic states, represented by body forces b1 x; t and ( )
( )
b2 x; t , boundary tractions t1 x; t and t2 x; t and( ) ( )
( )
displacements u1 x; t and u2 x; t . If the displace-( )
_
ments u and velocities u vanish in both states for
t tending to 1, the dynamic reciprocity theorem
reads as follows:
Z Zt
S 1
(
t1j x; t  u2j x;  d dS ) ( )

= 21
  Z Z
+ + b1j (x; t  )u2j (x;  ) d dV
t
sij usi;j usj;i (1)
V 1
The equilibrium equations are: Z Z
= t2j (x; t  )u1j (x;  ) d dS
t

ij;j +  bi
s
=  u
s s
i (2) S 1
where a dot on a variable denotes differentiation with Z Z
+ b2j (x; t  )u1j (x;  ) d dV
t
respect to time. In this equation,  ij denotes the stress (5)
tensor, s the density of the elastic medium and  s bi
V 1
the body force. For an isotropic linear elastic material, In the frequency domain, this theorem becomes:
the constitutive equations become: Z
^ ( )^ ( )
t1j x; ! u2j x; ! dS
ij = sskk Æij + 2s sij (3) S

Z
^b1j (x; ! )^
with s and s the Lamé coefficients.
These equations are completed by initial condi- + V
u2j (x; ! ) dV
tions, Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions, as Z
well as Sommerfeld’s radiation conditions at infinity.
The Navier equations result from the elimination
= t^2j (x; ! )^u1j (x; ! ) dS
S
of the stress and strain tensors from the equilibrium Z
equations (2) by means of the constitutive equations + ^b2j (x; ! )^
u1j (x; ! ) dV (6)
(3) and the strain-displacement relations (1): V

( +  )u +  u +  b = 0
s s s
j;ji
s s
i;jj
s
i (4) Applying the dynamic reciprocity theorem to two
elastodynamic states, where the first is the unknown
In the following, the influence of body forces will be state characterized by displacements usj x; t , trac- ( )
disregarded. ( )
tions tsj x; t and body forces bsj (x,t), while the sec-
ond is characterized by the fundamental Green’s solu-
2.2 Green’s functions tions uG ( ) ( )
ij  ; x; t and tij  ; x; t , the representation the-
G

In the particular case where a concentrated impul- orem of elastodynamics is obtained. In the frequency
( )= (
sive load bj x; t ) ()
Æ x  Æ t Æij is applied at the domain, this theorem is written as follows:
( )
source point  in a direction ei , the solution usj x; t Z
of the elastodynamic problem at a receiver x in a di- ^( ) =
usi ; ! tsj x; ! uG ^ ( )^ (
ij  ; x; ! dS )
S
rection ej is referred to as the fundamental singular
Z
t^G
solution or the Green’s function of the medium (Apsel
and Luco 1983; Luco and Apsel 1983) and denoted as ij ( ; x; ! )^
usj (x; ! ) dS
the second order tensor uGij  ; x; t .( ) Z
S

^bsj (x; ! )^
On a plane with unit outward normal vector n,
Cauchy’s stress principle is applied to calculate the + V
uGij ( ; x; ! ) dV (7)
This theorem forms the basis for boundary integral 3 DISPERSION RELATIONS
formulations. The in-plane propagation of P-waves is governed by
the hyperbolic PDE (11). The time t is transformed
2.4 Decomposition of the displacement vectors to the circular frequency ! by means of a forward
Application of the Helmholtz decomposition u s = Fourier transformation and followed by a Fourier
+
grad s rot s with a scalar function s and a vec-  transformation of the horizontal coordinate x to the
tor function s , for which div s =0
, to the Navier horizontal wavenumber kx , as it is assumed that the
equations (4) results in the following set of uncoupled geometry is invariant in the horizontal direction:
" #
~
+ dz +
partial differential equations:
d2 s
( +2 )
s
 s 2
kx ! 2 s s (14) ~ = 0
( + 2 )r2 s
s s
=  
s s
(8)
2

( )
The function s x; z; t is decomposed into a
 r2s s
=  s s
(9) superposition of plane harmonic wave potentials
~ (
s
)
kx ; z; ! in the frequency-wavenumber domain.
with r2 the 3D Laplace operator. The longitudinal The solution of equation (14) is equal to:
q potential  and ~ (k ; z; !) =
s
or P-wave is described by the scalar
propagates with the velocity Cp = (s + 2s )=s . It
s
x IPs e ikzp z
+R s
P e+ikzp z (15)
decouples from the shear or S-wave, that is described where the potentials IPs and RPs refer to incident
by the vector potential q s
and propagates with the (propagating in the positive z -direction) and reflected
shear wave velocity Cs = s =s . (propagating in the negative z -direction) waves. kzp is
the vertical component of the wave propagation vec-
The contribution of the S-wave to the displacement
vector can be decomposed into a component parallel =
tor kp fkx ; kzp gT of the P-waves and follows from
(SH-wave) and normal (SV-wave) to a bounding sur- the following dispersion relation:
face. As we are interested in the response of a hori-
zontally layered halfspace where the vertical z -axis is
+ =
k2 k2
x k2
zp p (16)
perpendicular to the layer interfaces, it is convenient with k = !=C the magnitude of the wave propa-
p p
to choose the bounding surface parallel with the hori-
zontal (x; y )-plane.
gation vector kp . Hysteretic material damping in the
solid skeleton is introduced according to the corre-
For 2D wave propagation in the (x; z )-plane, the spondence principle, using a complex Lamé coef-
dependence on the y -coordinate can be ignored and ficient s ( + 2 )(1 + 2 )
s ips , with ps the material
the following decomposition holds: damping ratio. This results in a complex P-wave ve-
locity Cp and wavenumber kp . Equation (16) enables
us = grad  + rot(e ) + rot(e  )
s
y
s
z
s
(10) to calculate the complex vertical wave number kzp
for each horizontal wavenumber kx and circular fre-
The following set of hyperbolic PDE is obtained: ( )
quency ! . kzp equals kp2 kx2 0:5 if kx  kp , which
corresponds to propagating waves in the z -direction.
( + 2 )r2  =
s s s s
s  (11)
(
If kx > kp , kzp equals i kx2 kp2 0:5 and represents )
inhomogeneous waves with exponential decrease or
increase in amplitude with z .
s r2 s
= s s (12) Analogous derivations hold for SV- and SH-waves,
which are also decomposed into a superposition of
s r2 s = s s (13) plane harmonic waves:

with r2 the 2D Laplace operator. The in-plane mo-

~ (k ; z; !) =
s
x ISV
s
e ikzs z
+R s
SV e+ikzs z (17)
tions usx and usz decouple from the out-of-plane mo-
tion usy . The former are described in terms of scalar ~ (k ; z; ! ) =
s
x ISH
s
e ikzs z
+R s
SH e+ikzs z (18)

wave potentials s (P-wave) and s (SV-wave). The
where kzs is the vertical component of the wave prop-
out-of-plane motion is described in terms of the scalar
wave potential s (SH-wave). =
agation vector ks fkx ; kzs gT of the S-waves and fol-
3D wave propagation in multi-layered media can lows from the following dispersion relation:
be described as the superposition of the solution of
the in-plane P-SV problem and the out-of-plane SH
k2 k2
x + k2
zs = s (19)
problem. In the following, we will restrict to a brief =
ks !=Cs is the magnitude of the wave propaga-
description of the P-SV problem and the SH problem. tion vector ks . Hysteretic material damping in the
solid skeleton is introduced according to the corre- complex symmetrical element stiffness matrix Ke that ~
spondence principle, using a complex Lamé coeffi- ~ ~
relates the tractions Te to the displacements ue :
cient s(1 + 2 ) iss , with ss the material damping ra-
~ ~ = T~
tio. This results in a complex S-wave velocity C s and Ke ue e
(20)
wavenumber ks . The potentials ISV s
, ISH
s
, RSV
s
and
RSH refer to incident and reflected waves, respec-
s Kausel and Roësset (1981) have derived analytical
expressions for the elements of the 2 by 2 com-
tively.
Similar results are obtained for P-SV wave prop-
~
plex symmetrical element stiffness matrix Ke , which
agation in the axisymmetric case, where the Fourier are functions of the material properties of the elastic
transformation of the time t to the circular frequency medium, the circular frequency ! and the wavenum-
! is now followed by a Hankel transformation of the ber kx . Limiting expressions for the case of zero fre-
radial coordinate r to the radial wavenumber kr . The quency (quasi-static solution) and zero wavenumber
latter is related to the horizontal wavenumbers k x and (1D case) have also been derived. These expressions
= +
ky as kr2 kx2 ky2 . will not be repeated herein.
Identical expressions are obtained in the axisym-
4 THE DIRECT STIFFNESS FORMULATION metric P-SV case if the imaginary units are omitted in
Thomson (1950) and Haskell (1953) have formulated the derivation of the element vectors.
In the 2D SH-case, the element displacement vec-
transfer matrices in the frequency-wavenumber do-
~ = ~
tor reduces to ue fusy gT and the element traction
main for the study of wave propagation in layered
~ = ~
vector is equal to Te f zy gT , so that the element
media. The transfer matrices follow from the exact
solution of the wave equations and express the rela- ~
stiffness matrix Ke reduces to a 1 by 1 complex sym-
tionship between the state vectors at both interfaces metrical matrix.
of a single layer of the medium.
Kausel and Roësset (1981) have presented a formu- 4.2 Dry layer element
lation with stiffness matrices in the transformed do-
main as an alternative for the Haskell-Thomson trans-
fer matrix approach. Compared to the use of trans-
fer matrices, the stiffness matrices have the advantage
that they are symmetric and allow for an efficient nu-
merical implementation.

4.1 Dry halfspace element

The dry halfspace element models the propagation of
waves in a semi-infinite halfspace. The amplitudes of
the plane harmonic waves should be non-increasing
functions with the distance travelled. Therefore, only
~=
the outgoing wave amplitudes aI fISV s
; IPs gT , prop-
agating in the positive z -direction, are accounted for. Figure 2: Dry layer element (P-SV).

When the in-plane motion in a 2D layer element is

~= ~ ( =
considered, the element displacements ue fusx z
0) ~ ( = 0) ~ ( = ) ~ ( = )
; iusz z ; usx z L ; iusz z L gT and the
~ = ~ ( = 0) ~ ( =
element tractions Te f zx z ; izz z
0) ~ ( = ) ~ ( = )
; zx z L ; izz z L gT at both interfaces of the
layer are written in terms of both the outgoing wave
~ =
amplitudes aI fISV s
; IPs gT and the incoming wave
~ =
amplitudes aR fRSV s
; RPs gT . Elimination of these
Figure 1: Dry halfspace element (P-SV). unknown wave amplitudes leads to the derivation of a
~
complex symmetrical element stiffness matrix Ke that
~ ~
relates the tractions Te to the displacements ue :
In the 2D P-SV case, the element displacements
~ = ~ ~
ue
fusx; iuszTgT and the element tractions Te ~ = ~ u~ = T~
K e e e
(21)
~ ~
f zx; izz g at the surface of the layer areI written
~ Analytical expressions for the elements of the 4 by 4
~
in terms of the outgoing wave amplitudes a . Elimi-
nation of these amplitudes leads to the derivation of a complex symmetrical element stiffness matrix Ke are
presented by Kausel and Roësset (1981) and will not
be repeated herein.
In the 2D SH-case, the element displacement vec-
~ = ~ ( = 0) ~ ( = )
tor reduces to ue fusy z ; usy z L gT and the
~ = ~ ( =
element traction vector is equal to Te f zy z
0) ~ ( = ) ~
; zy z L gT . The element stiffness matrix Ke re-
duces to a 2 by 2 complex symmetrical matrix (Kausel
and Roësset 1981).
Similar developments are possible for a poroelastic
layer and halfspace element, where the solid skeleton
is saturated with a pore fluid (Rajapakse and Senjun-
tichai 1995; Degrande et al. 1998).
4.3 Assembly of equations
The propagation of waves in a horizontally layered
halfspace can be modelled with N 1 layer elements
on top of a halfspace element, with N interfaces. For
each interface i between two layers i 1 and i, the
stress equilibrium and the continuity of displacements
are expressed for each frequency ! and wavenumber
kx, resulting in the following system of equations:
~ ~ = T~
KS uS S
(22)
where the complex symmetrical and banded stiffness
~
matrix KS is assembled analogously as in a finite el-
ement formulation. Due to the introduction of hys-
~
teretic material damping, the coefficient matrix KS is
not singular in the real wavenumber domain (Apsel
and Luco 1983; Luco and Apsel 1983).
Since the frequency and wavenumber dependent
eigenvectors are used as shape functions for the for-
~
mulation of the element stiffness matrices Ke , the
mass distribution is treated exactly without the need
of subdividing a layer into smaller elements. Wave
propagation within an element is treated exactly and
elements can extend from one interface to another, re-
sulting in a system of equations (22) of limited dimen-
sion.
Alternatively, the exact solution in the vertical di-
rection can be replaced by polynomial shape func-
tions, resulting in a thin layer formulation (Kausel
and Roësset 1977; Waas 1972). The layer thickness
should be small with respect to the minimum wave-
length propagating through the model. The thin layer
method has originally been formulated for a layered
stratum on a rigid bedrock. Wave propagation in a
semi-infinite layered halfspace can be treated using
a hybrid formulation, where a thin layer formulation
for the layers is combined with the aforementioned
halfspace element.
The direct stiffness formulation is suitable for the
solution of a wide variety of problems, such as the site
amplification of incident plane harmonic waves, the
dispersion and attenuation of surface waves and the
response to external loads. Within the frame of this
review, the last two problems are discussed in more
detail.
4.4 Free surface waves
The free surface waves in a layered halfspace are the
natural modes of vibration and equal to the displace-
~ ~
ments uS when the external load vector TS in equa-
~
tion (22) equals zero. Non-trivial solutions for uS can
~
be obtained if the coefficient matrix KS is singular or
~
if the determinant of KS is equal to zero:
det KS~ = 0 (23)
Figure 3: Surface waves.
This equation corresponds to a transcendental
eigenvalue problem in terms of the real frequency !
and the complex horizontal wavenumber kx , which
enables the determination of the free surface waves
and their attenuation. This eigenvalue problem has
an infinite number of solutions and must be solved
by search techniques (Draelants 1994). For the case
of a homogeneous halfspace and in the absence of
material damping, equation (23) reduces to the clas-
sical cubic equation that was first formulated by
Rayleigh (1887), revealing a single non-dispersive
surface wave with phase velocity CR .
The solution of the eigenvalue problem (23) is also
an indispensable step in the spectral analysis of sur-
face waves (SASW) method to determine the theoret-
ical dispersion curve of a multilayered site.
In the case of a layered soil supported by a rigid
stratum, the thin layer method offers an advantage, as
the eigenvalue problem for the natural surface wave
modes is algebraic instead of transcendental.
4.5 Forced vibration problems
A second application involves the calculation of the
response of a layered halfspace to an external tran-
sient loading. At each interface between two layers,
the displacements or tractions can be prescribed.
In the in-plane case, the traction is represented by a
( )= ( ) ()
function T x; t ()
S x F t , where S x and F t ()
denote the spatial and temporal distribution of the
load, respectively. The right hand side of equation
(22) is the product of the forward Fourier transforms
() ()
of the functions F t and S x . A special case of
forced vibrations is the computation of the Green’s
functions of a layered halfspace where a Dirac load in
space and time is applied.
Figure 4: Forced vibration problem.
The solution of the system of equations (22) yields
~( )
the transformed displacements usi kx ; z; ! at each
interface. The response in the space-frequency do-
main is obtained by an inverse Fourier transformation
from the wavenumber to the spatial domain of the fol-
lowing general form:
u^si(x; z; ! )
1 Z1
= 2 1 u~ (k ; z; !)e ikx x
dkx (24)
si x
The behaviour of the integrand in this equation
presents some difficulties:
~( )
1. The function usi kx ; z; ! follows from the solu-
tion of the system of equations (22) for different
values of ! and kx , which may become expen-
sive due to presence of transcendental functions,
eventhough the relative increase in computation
time due to an increase in the number of layers is
not particularly large (Xu and Mal 1987).
2. This function also exhibits dense oscillations for
particular values of kx , which are due to the ex-
ponential terms in the wave solutions. The pres-
ence of very low speed layers is likely to cause
rapid oscillations in some parts of the integrand,
which are irregular as their exact location and na-
ture cannot be predicted (Xu and Mal 1987).
3. In the absence of material dissipation, the func-
~( )
tion usi kx ; z; ! becomes zero for certain val-
ues of kx , which correspond to the surface wave
poles of the integrand. The introduction of com-
plex Lamé coefficients shifts the poles from the
real kx -axis into the complex plane and enables
the use of numerical integration techniques.
4. The kernel functions in the integral transforms
introduce rapid oscillations for large values of
the horizontal source-receiver distance.
In view of these remarks, an efficient quadrature
scheme is needed for the evaluation of the inverse
wavenumber integrals. According to Xu and Mal
(1985), an adaptive algorithm with self-adjusting in-


terval kx , concentrating abscissas around regions of
~( )
sharp variations in usi kx ; z; ! and taking full advan-
tage of previously computed values of the integrand,
is useful for the accurate evaluation of the wavenum-
ber integral with a minimum number of function eval-
uations. The fourth problem is solved using a gener-
alized Filon method, where only the kernel-free part
~( )
usi kx ; z; ! of the integrand is interpolated.
Another difficulty is that, at low frequencies and
when the source and the receiver are located at the
same depth, a high upper limit k xmax of the integration
interval is needed for an accurate evaluation.
The inverse transformation from the frequency to
the time is performed by an inverse FFT algorithm.
5 ROAD TRAFFIC INDUCED VIBRATIONS
In the following, a numerical model for the pre-
diction of road traffic induced vibrations (Lombaert
et al. 2000) is briefly reviewed. Dynamic axle loads
are computed using simple 2D vehicle models. The
model demonstrates how the Green’s functions of the
soil are used to compute the road’s impedance with
a boundary element formulation, as well as to cal-
culate the transfer functions between a fixed source
point on the road and a receiver in the free field. It is
also shown how the dynamic reciprocity theorem is
used to compute the free field response due to a vehi-
cle moving on the road.
5.1 The dynamic axle loads
The dynamic axle loads are calculated with a 2D ve-
hicle model, which is composed of discrete masses,
springs and dampers. The vehicle body and the wheel
axles are assumed to be rigid inertial elements, while
the primary suspension system and the tyres are rep-
resented by a spring-dashpot system. The distribution
of n axle loads can be written as the summation of the
product of Dirac functions that determine the position
of the force and a time-dependent function gk t : ()
F (x; y; z; t)
X
n
= Æ (x xS )Æ (y yk vt)Æ (z )gk (t) (25)
k =1
yk is the initial position of the k-th axle that moves
with the vehicle speed v along the y -axis. As the in-
fluence of the road displacements on the dynamic axle
loads can be neglected, the frequency content gk ! of ^( )
a single axle load is calculated from the contribution The foregoing kinematical assumptions result in
of n vehicle axles and the road surface profile: the following equilibrium equations for the road,
which govern the longitudinal bending and torsional
^ ( ) = ^ ( )^ ( )
Xn
gk ! hfk ul ! ulw=r ! (26) deformations, respectively:
l=1  Z 
The FRF h ^ k l (!) represents the frequency content of ~ ~ +
Kr ! 2 Mr ~ (~ ) ~ = ~
 t
r sz s dx  fÆc(30)
f u rs
the axle load at axle k , when a unit impulse excitation
is applied to axle l (Hunt 1991). u ^ (!) representsl ~ =
with K diagfEI k 4 ; GCk 2 g the stiffness matrix
r x y
~ = diagfA; I g the mass matrix of the road.
w=r y
the frequency content of the road unevenness applied and M r p
at axle l and is calculated from the wavenumber do- A is the road’s cross section, Ix the moment of inertia
~ ( )
main representation uw=r ky of the longitudinal road with respect to x, C the torsional moment of inertia
()
profile uw=r y : and Ip the polar moment of inertia; E is the Young’s
l 1
u^ (! ) = u~ (
!
) exp( y
i! l ) (27)
modulus, G the shear modulus and  the density of
the road. The road impedance K ~ r !2Mr becomes
w=r
w=r
v v v singular for
q free bending waves with phase veloc-
For increasing vehicle speed, the quasi-static value of
the road profile experienced by the vehicle axles de- ity Cb = 4
EIx ! 2 =A and free torsional waves with
q
creases, while the frequency content shifts to higher phase velocity Ct =
GC=Ip .
frequencies. Equations (26) and (27) are used to rep- The integral on the left hand side of equation (30)
resent the contribution of all axles to a single axle load ~
^ ( )
by a single FRF hfk u ! :
denotes the soil impedance Ks , and follows from the
equilibrium at the road-soil interface rs . tsz s is  ~ (~ )
1 ^ k l (!) exp(i! )
g^ (! ) = u~ ( ) h
! X n
yl the frequency-wavenumber domain representation of
k
v v w=r
v f u ( )
tsz s , the vertical component of the soil tractions
l =1 =
ts s n on a boundary with a unit outward normal n
due to the displacement mode s .
= v1 u~ ( !v )h^ k (!) (28) A boundary element method is used to calculate the
~ (~ )
soil tractions tsz s at the road-soil interface in the
w=r f u

soil (Aubry et al. 1994; Lombaert et al. 2000). The

5.2 The road-soil transfer function
The road-soil transfer function hzi x; y; z; t repre-(
sents the fundamental solution at a point of the road
or the soil for the displacement in the direction e i due
to a vertical impulse load on the road. Its calculation
requires the solution of two subprobems. First, a dy-
namic substructure method is used to calculate the
tractions at the road-soil interface (Aubry et al. 1994).
Next, the displacements at an arbitrary location are
calculated from these soil tractions.
The road is assumed to be invariant with respect
to the longitudinal direction y and to have a rigid
cross section, supported by the soil along the inter-
 ~
face rs . The first assumption allows to perform a
Fourier transformation from the longitudinal coordi-
nate y to the horizontal wavenumber ky , resulting
in an efficient solution procedure in the frequency-
wavenumber domain. The second assumption allows
to write the vertical road displacements urz x; ky ; !
as a function of the vertical translation ucz ky ; ! of
the cross section’s centre of gravity and the rotation
~( )
) boundary element formulation is based on the for-
mulation of the boundary integral equations in the
frequency-wavenumber domain, using the Green’s
functions of a horizontally layered soil. The Green’s
functions in the frequency-wavenumber domain are
calculated as the inverse transformation of the Green’s
functions in the frequency-radial wavenumber do-
~
main.
The vector fÆc in equation (30) is the force vector
related to the Dirac load applied in a point xS ; ; ( 0 0)
at time t . =0
The solution of the system of equations (30) gives
the complex modal coordinates . The soil tractions
~ (~ )
tsz us at the road-soil interface are calculated from
these modal coordinates as tsz s . ~ ( ~ )~
The dynamic reciprocity theorem is used to com-
~ (
pute the road-soil transfer function hzi 1 ; ky ; 3 ; ! )
~ ( ) from the soil tractions at the interface. In the load case
~( =
~ ( ) considered, only the vertical tractions tsz x; ky ; z
0 )
; ! have a non-zero resultant. When the loaded area
cy ky ; ! about this centre: is small compared to the wavelength in the soil, it can
be assumed that the horizontal tractions have a small
u~rz (x; ky ; ! ) =  (x)~(k ; !)
r y (29) influence on the free field displacements, so that:
Z
The displacement modes of the rigid cross section are ~ zi(x; ky ; z ; !)
h = zi (x
u~G x; ky ; z ; ! )
collected in a vector r x ( )= 1
f ; xgT , while the vec- rs
~( )
tor  ky ; ! collects the displacement ucz ky ; ! and ~ ( )
~(
the rotation cy ky ; ! . ) t~sz (x; ky ; z = 0; ! ) dx (31)
and only the Green’s function uG ~ (
zi x ; ky ; z ; ! , repre- ) of the moving load to the wavenumber content of the
senting the fundamental solution for the displacement transfer function:
in the direction ei due to a vertical impulse load, is
u^ ( ;  ;  ; ! ) =
1 Z +1
2v 1 g^ (~!)
needed.
si x y z k

6 RESPONSE TO MOVING LOADS

In the case where the load moves with a constant
speed v , the dynamic reciprocity theorem allows to
~ ( ; ! !~ ;  ; !)
h zi x z
v
derive a relation between the unknown response and
 
! !~  
the fundamental response to the fixed impulsive load.
The moving load is represented by a body force exp i
v
(y yk ) d!~ (35)
( )= ( ( )) ( )
bj x; t Æ x xSk t gk t Æzj in the vertical direc-
tion ez , where xSk t ( )= +
fxS ; yk vt; zS gT denotes the ^ (~ )
The frequency content gk ! of the load and the dis-
()
time-dependent position and g k t the time history of ^( )
placement usi x ; y ; z ; ! are coupled through the
the moving load. wavenumber at which the transfer function is evalu-
For a problem geometry that is invariant in the ated. For a limiting large velocity v , the wavenumber
direction ey of the moving load, the following ex-
pression can be derived for the unknown response
ky =( ~)
! ! =v tends to zero and the solution for the
(
usi x; y ; z ; t : ) 2D case of a line load along the path of the moving
source is obtained.
Zt
usi(x ; y ; z ; t) = gk ( )
The solution in the time domain is finally obtained
1 as the inverse inverse Fourier transformation of the
circular frequency ! to the time t.
hzi (x; y yk v; z ; t  ) d (32)
7 EXAMPLE
where it is assumed that the transfer function
( )
hzi x; y ; z ; t is the response to a vertical pulse at
In the following example, the influence of the soil
0
stratification is demonstrated for the free field vibra-
the point fxS ; ; zS gT of the road surface. The coor- tions generated by the passage of a two-axle truck on
dinates in the argument of the transfer function corre- a traffic plateau (Lombaert et al. 2001). Three cases
spond to a receiver that moves in the opposite direc- are considered for the soil stratification:
tion of the source. As the transfer function can be ef-
ficiently computed in the frequency-wavenumber do-
Case (a): a homogeneous halfspace with s =
main according to equation (31), it is advantageous
1800 = 150
kg/m3 , Cs m/s, Cp m/s and = 300
to transform equation (32) also to the frequency-
wavenumber domain. The following expression is ob-
s
= = 0 025
s ps : . The ratioqs of the wave veloci-
tained: ties Cs and Cp is equal to s = s (1 2 ) (2 2 )
and only depends on the Poisson’s ratio  s ; s is
u~si(x ; ky ; z ; ! ) = g^ (!
k ky v ) equal to 0.5 if  s = . =1 3
h~ zi (x; ky ; z ; ! )exp(+iky yk ) (33) Case (b): a layer built in at its base with the mate-
rial properties of the halfspace in case (a) and a
=5
The response is computed as the product of the trans-
fer function and the frequency content of the source, thickness d m.
provided that the latter is shifted by k y v . For a limit-
ing small velocity v , this shift tends to zero and the Case (c): a layer with the same material properties as
solution for the case of a load at a fixed position is the halfspace in case (a) and a thickness d m, =5
recovered. supported by a halfspace with s kg/m3 , = 1800
^(
The representation usi x ; y ; z ; ! of the response ) Cs = 300
m/s and Cp m/s. = 600
in the frequency domain is obtained as the inverse
wavenumber domain transform: First, wave propagation in the soil will be described
u^ ( ;  ;  ; ! ) =
1
Z +1
2 1 g^ (! ky v )
by the axisymmetric Green’s functions. Second, it
si x y z k
is shown how the dynamic axle loads are calculated
from the longitudinal road profile and the vehicle
h~ ( ; k ;  ; ! )exp[ ik (
zi x y z y y yk ] dky (34) transfer functions. Next, the solution of the dynamic
interaction problem is discussed. Finally, the free field
A change of variables according to ky ! ! =v =( ~) velocities are calculated and the influence of the soil
moves the frequency shift from the frequency content stratification is demonstrated.
7.1 The axisymmetric Green’s functions of the soil is determined by the characteristics of the latter. The
In order to illustrate the dispersion of the body and previous examples illustrate that wave propagation in
surface waves for the three cases considered, the ax- a layered halfspace is dispersive as the wave velocities
isymmetric Green’s function is briefly discussed. depend on the frequency.
Figure 5a shows the logarithm of the modulus of
the axisymmetric Green’s function uzz ~ (
Gaxi
=0 )
kr ; z ;!
at the surface z =0 of the homogeneous halfspace as
a function of the circular frequency ! and the dimen-
=
sionless radial wavenumber k r kr Cs =! . The func-
tion has been multiplied by the circular frequency ! to
elucidate its behaviour at high frequencies. The prop-
agation and decay of body waves can be derived from
the dispersion relations. All waves propagate in the
radial direction for all values of k r . Although figure
5a only shows results on the surface of the halfspace
and does not allow to observe wave propagation in a. Homogeneous halfspace.
the z -direction, the dispersion relations allow to draw
some general conclusions on wave propagation in the
z -direction. The dimensionless vertical wavenumber 2
kzp for the P-waves is equal to k zp
2
=( )
s2 k r 0:5 if
kr < s and k zp = ( )
i k r s2 0:5 if kr  s. The di-
mensionless vertical wavenumber k zs for the S-waves
2
is equal to k zs
2
= (1 ) 1
kr 0:5 if kr < and kzs =
(
i kr 1) 1 0
0:5 if k r  . If  kr  s, both P- and
S-waves propagate in the vertical direction. The P-
waves become inhomogeneous in the z -direction if
kr  s, while the S-waves become inhomogeneous in b. Layer built in at its base.
1
the z -direction if k r  . Both events appear as dips in
the surface plot in figure 5a corresponding to values
of k r that are equal to s and 1. The peak at k R = 1 073
:
corresponds to the pole of the Rayleigh wave. In the
case of a homogeneous halfspace, none of the body
waves and the Rayleigh wave are dispersive and all
phase velocities are frequency independent.
Figure 5b shows the axisymmetric Green’s function
~ (
uGzz
axi
=0 )
kr; z ; ! for the case of a layer built in at
its base. Wave propagation takes place at frequencies
higher than the natural frequencies of the layer built c. Layer on a halfspace.
in at its base. The peak at 15 Hz corresponds to the Figure 5: Logarithm of the modulus of the product of
4
first vertical eigenfrequency Cp = d of the layer built the axisymmetric Green’s function uzz~ (
Gaxi
kr ; z =0 )
;!
in at its base. The second vertical eigenfrequency is and ! as a function of ! and k r for the 3 cases con-
3 4 = 45
equal to Cp = d Hz. At limiting high frequen- sidered.
cies, the wavelength in the soil is small compared to
the thickness of the layer and the response converges
to the response of a halfspace with the same material
properties as the layer. 7.2 The dynamic axle loads
Figure 5c shows the axisymmetric Green’s function ()
Figure 6a shows the profile uw=r y of the traffic
~ (
uzz k r ; z
Gaxi
=0 ) ; ! for the case of a layer on top of a plateau with a height H = 0 12
: m, a length L = 10 m
halfspace. At low frequencies, the wavelength in the and sinusoidal slopes with a length l= 1 20
: m. Fig-
soil is large with respect to the thickness of the layer ~ ( )
ure 6b shows the representation uw=r ky of the road
and the response corresponds to the response of a ho- profile in the wavenumber domain. The separation
mogeneous halfspace with the same material proper- between the lobes in the wavenumber domain is in-
ties as the underlying halfspace. At high frequencies, +
versely proportional to the mean length L l of the
plateau.
^
the wavelength is small compared to the thickness of
the top layer and the wave propagation in the soil Figure 7a shows the FRF hf1 u for the rear axle load
 0.2 1.5

7.4 The soil’s impedance

~

Road unevenness [m /rad]

Road unevenness [m]

0.15
The soil’s impedance Ks is calculated from the soil

2
1

0.1
tractions for the deformation modes of the cou-
0.5
0.05 pled road-soil system. A boundary element method,
0 0
based on the Green’s functions in the frequency-
−10 −5 0 5 10 0 5 10 15 20
wavenumber domain, is used for the calculation of
() ~ ( )
y [m] Wavenumber [rad/m]

a. uw=r y . b. uw=r ky . the soil tractions. The road-soil interface is discretized

Figure 6: The longitudinal road profile of a traffic =
into 32 boundary elements of equal length l e 0.094
plateau with sinusoidal slopes (a) as a function of the m. The element size is small compared to the wave-
coordinate y and (b) in the wavenumber domain. length at the maximum frequency f = 50 Hz, but is
required for an accurate representation of the peaks
=
of the soil tractions at the edges x B of the road.
of a 2D 4DOF vehicle model of a two-axle Volvo
FE7 truck. The FRF are dominated by the pitch and
bounce modes (1.6 Hz and 1.9 Hz) and the axle hop
modes (9.1 Hz at the front axle and 9.5 Hz at the rear
axle) of the vehicle. The FRF are used to calculate the
dynamic axle loads during the passage of the two-axle
truck on the traffic plateau at a speed v m/s. = 14
6 4
x 10 x 10
7 6

6 5
a. Homogeneous halfspace.
Rear axle load [N/Hz]

5
4
FRF [N/m]

4
3
3
2
2

1 1

0 0

^ ( )
0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50

^( )
Frequency [Hz] Frequency [Hz]

a. hf1 u ! . b. g1 ! .
Figure 7: (a) The vehicle FRF hf1 u for the rear axle ^
load and (b) the frequency content g1 ! of the rear ^( ) b. Layer built in at its base.
axle load.

Figure 7b shows the frequency content of the rear

axle load. From equation (27), it follows that the ve-
hicle speed couples the frequency content ulw=r ! to ^ ( )
the wavenumber domain representation uw=r ky of ~ ( )
the road profile. The separation between the small c. Layer on a halfspace.
lobes in the frequency domain is therefore propor- Figure 8: Real (left hand side) and imaginary part
tional to the vehicle speed. The spectrum of the axle ~ (1 1)
(right hand side) of the bending term Ks ; of the
loads is dominated by the pitch and bounce modes. soil’s impedance as a function of ! and k y for the 3
cases considered.
7.3 The road
The case is considered where the load is applied at the
center of the road (xS ). As the bending and the =0 Figure 8a shows the real and the imaginary part of
torsional modes are uncoupled, the modal coordinate ~ (1 1)
the bending term Ks ; of the soil’s impedance as
~
cy of the torsional modes is zero and the discussion a function of the circular frequency ! and the dimen-
is restricted to the bending modes. sionless wavenumber k y for the case of the homoge-
The road has a width B m; it is composed 2 =3 neous halfspace. The imaginary part of the impedance
of a bituminous top layer, a granular subbase and a represents the energy dissipation due to radiation and
foundation. This three-layer system can be replaced material damping in the soil and increases for increas-
by a single equivalent bituminous layer with a thick- ing frequencies.
ness h : m and a density = 0 14 kg/m3 with = 5910 The impedance is calculated in the frequency-
the same bending stiffness EI and weight A as the wavenumber domain after an inverse Fourier transfor-
three-layer system. mation of the horizontal wavenumber kx to the hori-
zontal coordinate x perpendicular to the road. In the impedance is influenced by the presence of the under-
expression of the axisymmetric Green’s functions, the lying halfspace and differs strongly from the case of
radial wavenumber is therefore written as a function the layer built in at its base. At higher frequencies,
of the horizontal wavenumbers: the influence of the top layer increases and the soil’s
2 2 2
kr = +kx ky (36)
impedance tends to the same value in all cases.

with k x = k cos  and k = k sin  where  is the

r y r
7.5 The road-soil interaction problem
The sum of the road and the soil’s impedance rep-
angle of the (plane) wave with the x-axis. The body
wave dispersion relations now become: resents the total impedance of the coupled road-soil
system. The real part is determined by both the road
2 2 2
+ +
kx ky k zp =
s2 (37) and the soil’s impedance, while the imaginary part is
only determined by the soil’s impedance, as energy is
2 2 2
kx + ky + kzs = 1 only dissipated in the soil.
(38) Since the bending and torsional modes are un-
P- and S-waves become inhomogeneous in the verti- coupled, the modal coordinate ucz k y ; ! of the ~ ( )
1
cal z -direction if k r  s and k r  , respectively. bending modes is equal to the inverse of the total
impedance for the bending modes. The soil tractions
Considering the dispersion relation for P-waves
( )
propagating in the horizontal x; y -plane (k zp =0), kx
~( =0 )
tsz x; ky ; z 
; ! at the interface rs are calculated
tends to zero when k y tends to s, corresponding to a ~ ( )
as the product of ucz k y ; ! and tsz s . ~ ( ~ (1))
P-wave propagating in the y -direction. The real part
1.5
of the impedance decreases. Considering the disper-
sion relation for S-waves propagating in the horizon-
( )
tal x; y -plane (k zs =0), kx tends to zero when k y
1
1

tends to , corresponding to a S-wave propagating in k [−]

the y -direction.
y

0.5
Whereas in figure 5a the Rayleigh wave only ap-
=
pears at a single wavenumber k r k R , it now influ-
ences the impedance at each horizontal wavenumber
ky  kR . Although not immediately observable on
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Frequency [Hz]

figure 8a, these Rayleigh waves propagate in the hori- a. Homogeneous halfspace.
( ) = (
zontal x; y -plane in the direction  arcsin k y =k R ) 1.5

with respect to the x-axis. For k y tending to k R , cor-

responding to a Rayleigh wave propagating in the y - 1

direction, the real part of the impedance reaches a lo-

k [−]

cal minimum. For larger values of k y , the real part

y

0.5
increases and the imaginary part decreases to a rela-
tively low value, determined by material damping.
Figure 8b shows the real and the imaginary part 0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Frequency [Hz]
of the soil’s impedance for the layer built in at its
base. At k y =0 , the real part of the impedance be- b. Layer built in at its base.
1.5
comes zero at the natural frequencies of a 2D rigid
beam on top of the layer built in at its base. At fre-
quencies lower than the first vertical eigenfrequency 1

of the layer built in at its base, the imaginary part

k [−]
y

is small. The same holds for wavenumbers larger 0.5

than the Rayleigh wavenumber of a homogeneous
halfspace with the characteristics of the layer. Un-
der these conditions, the damping term is mainly de- 0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Frequency [Hz]
termined by material damping. For those frequencies
and wavenumbers that correspond to a surface wave c. Layer on a halfspace.
propagating in the y -direction, both the real and the Figure 9: Logarithm of the modulus of the product of
imaginary part exhibit a local minimum. ~ ( )
the modal coordinate ucz k y ; ! and ! as a function
Figure 8c shows the real and the imaginary part of ! and k y for the 3 cases considered.
of the soil’s impedance for the case of a layer on a
halfspace. At frequencies lower than the first vertical
eigenfrequency of a layer built in at its base, the soil’s Figure 9a shows, for the case of a homogeneous
halfspace, a contour plot of the logarithm of the mod-
~ ( )
ulus of the modal coordinate ucz k y ; ! , multiplied
by the circular frequency ! , as a function of ! and
ky . Large values of the modal coordinate appear at
wavenumbers close to the Rayleigh wavenumber k R .
These maxima are obtained when the impedance of
the total system is nearly singular and correspond to a
wave of the coupled road-soil system, that propagates
at a velocity Crs close to CR .
Figure 9a illustrates that, at a limiting low fre-
quency, the wave velocity Crs is equal to CR . The
a. Homogeneous halfspace.
wavelength in the soil is large and the influence
q of
the road becomes negligible. At !rs CR = 2 12
=E=h,
the velocity Cb of the free bending waves equals CR
and the wave of the coupled system propagates at
the Rayleigh wave velocity. At frequencies lower than
!rs, the wave velocity of the coupled road-soil system
is lower than CR . In this frequency range, the damping
is determined by material damping in the soil. At fre-
quencies higher than !rs , the wave velocity is larger
than CR due to the influence of the bending stiffness
of the road; the damping is determined by both mate-
rial and radiation damping in the soil. b. Layer built in at its base.
Figure 9b shows the results for the case of a layer
=0 ~ (
built in at its base. At k y )
, ucz k y ; ! exhibits max-
ima at the resonance frequencies for the 2D case of a
rigid beam on top of the layer built in at its base. Due
to the influence of the road inertia, these resonance
frequencies are slightly lower than the vertical eigen-
frequencies of the layer built in at its base. The first
wave of the coupled system emanates at the first ver-
tical eigenfrequency of the rigid beam on top of the
layer. At higher frequencies, the wave velocity Crs de-
creases due to the influence of the bending wave term.
Less dominant maxima correspond to higher road-soil c. Layer on a halfspace.
modes, with a wave velocity close to the values for the Figure 10: Modulus of the product of the transfer
surface wave modes in the soil. ~ ( =8
function hzz x =0 )
; ky ; z ; ! and ! as a function
Figure 9c shows the results for the case of a layer of ! and k y for the 3 cases considered.
on top of a halfspace. At a fixed frequency ! below
the first vertical eigenfrequency of the rigid beam on
~ ( )
top of the layer, ucz k y ; ! reaches a maximum value ~ ( =8
tion hzz x =0 )
; ky ; z ; ! , multiplied by the cir-
at a wavenumber close to the Rayleigh wavenumber
cular frequency ! , as a function of ! and k y . At a
of a halfspace with the characteristics of the underly-
fixed frequency ! , the modulus of the transfer func-
ing halfspace. In this frequency range, the first wave ~ ( =8
tion hzz x =0 )
; ky ; z ; ! exhibits a maximum at
mode of the coupled system is mainly determined
by the characteristics of the underlying halfspace. At =
ky kR . For wavenumbers k y  kR , the body and
higher frequencies, an increase of the wave velocity the surface waves are inhomogeneous and the modu-
due to the influence of the top layer is followed by a lus becomes very small. At a fixed wavenumber k y ,
decrease due to the bending stiffness of the road. the modulus decreases for increasing frequencies ! ,
~ ( )
The transfer functions hzz x; ky ; z; ! between the due to material damping in the soil.
road and the soil are calculated from the soil tractions Figure 10b shows the results for the case of a layer
at the interface and the Green’s functions of the soil built in at its base. The modulus of the transfer func-
for receivers located at the surface (z =0 ) from x = tion exhibits a cut-off frequency at the first verti-
8 m to x = 64 m with an increment of 8 m. cal eigenfrequency of the rigid beam on top of the
Figure 10a shows, for the case of a homoge- layer. At a fixed frequency ! higher than this eigen-
neous halfspace, the modulus of the transfer func- frequency, the modulus attains a maximum value at
the Rayleigh wavenumber corresponding to a halfs-
pace with the characteristics of the layer. The maxi-
mum value decreases for increasing frequencies.
Figure 10c shows the results for the case of a layer
on top of a halfspace. Although the transfer function
exhibits no cut-off frequency, it can be noticed that
the modulus is small at frequencies below the first
eigenfrequency of the beam on top of the layer. For
frequencies tending to this frequency, the influence of
the weak top layer increases and, consequently, the
modulus increases as well. At higher frequencies, the
modulus decreases due to material damping in the
soil. For limiting high frequencies, the modal coordi-
nate and the transfer function tend to the same value
in the three cases.
7.6 The free field vibrations
2 of the homogeneous halfspace. The frequency content
1.5
1
Time [s]
in the soil delays and attenuates the signals for in-
creasing distance to the source. The arrival time in-
creases linearly for increasing distances to the road.
Figure 11b shows, on the same scale, the results for
the case of the layer built in at its base. The ampli-
tude of the ground vibrations is smaller, while the
resonance of the beam on top of the layer dominates
the time history. Figure 11c shows the results for the
case of a layer on a halfspace. The dispersive nature
of the wave propagation in the layered halfspace is
noticed when the arrival time is compared for the re-
ceivers at different distances from the source. At small
distances, the arrival times differ more than at larger
distances. This is due to the refracted compressional
wave.
Figure 12a shows the time history and the fre-
quency content of the vertical free field velocity at a
distance of 8 m to the center of the road for the case
of the ground vibrations is mainly situated below 20
Hz and is dominated by the pitch and bounce modes
(at approximately 2 Hz) and the axle hop modes (be-

0.5
tween 9 Hz and 10 Hz) of the vehicle.
0

8m −4 8m
−0.5 −3
x 10 2
x 10
2

1.5
−1
0 20 40 60 80 1 1.5

Velocity [m/s/Hz]
Distance [m]
Velocity [m/s]

0.5

a. Homogeneous halfspace. 0

−0.5
1

2
−1 0.5

−1.5
1.5
−2 0
−1 0 1 2 3 0 10 20 30 40 50
Time [s] Frequency [Hz]
1
a. Homogeneous halfspace.
Time [s]

0.5 −3 8m −4 8m
x 10 x 10
2 2

0 1.5

1 1.5
Velocity [m/s/Hz]

−0.5
Velocity [m/s]

0.5

0 1
−1 −0.5
0 20 40 60 80
Distance [m] −1 0.5

b. Layer built in at its base. −1.5

−2
−1 0 1 2 3
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
2 Time [s] Frequency [Hz]

1.5 b. Layer built in at its base.

−3 8m −4 8m
x 10 x 10
2 2
1
1.5
Time [s]

1 1.5
0.5
Velocity [m/s/Hz]
Velocity [m/s]

0.5

0 1
0
−0.5

−1 0.5
−0.5
−1.5

−1 −2
−1 0 1 2 3
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
0 20 40 60 80 Time [s] Frequency [Hz]
Distance [m]

c. Layer on a halfspace. c. Layer on a halfspace.

Figure 11: Time history of the free field vertical ve- Figure 12: Time history (left hand side) and frequency
locity as a function of the distance to the road for the content (right hand side) for points at a distance of 8
3 cases considered. m to the center of the road for the 3 cases considered.

Figure 11a shows the time history of the free field Figure 12b shows the vertical free field velocity for
vertical velocity as a function of the distance to the the case of the layer built in at its base. Compared
center of the road for the case of the homogeneous to the case of the homogeneous halfspace, the peak
halfspace. It can be observed that wave propagation particle velocity is much smaller. A cut-off frequency
appears at the first vertical eigenfrequency of the cou-
pled system and dominates the frequency content. The
soil exhibits the characteristics of a high-pass filter
and the influence of the eigenfrequencies of the ve-
hicle below 10 Hz is no longer observable.
Figure 12c shows the vertical free field velocity
for the case of the layer on a halfspace. At low fre-
quencies, the wavelength is large and the velocity is
lower than in case (a). At frequencies higher than the
first vertical eigenfrequency of the layer built in at its
base, the frequency content of the free field velocity
in cases (a) and (c) is very similar.
8 CONCLUSION
The direct stiffness method has been reviewed as a
tool to compute harmonic and transient wave prop-
agation in horizontally layered media. It allows for
the calculation of the Green’s functions, needed
in a boundary element formulation to compute the
impedance of the soil. This has been illustrated for
the case of road traffic induced vibrations due to the
passage of a vehicle on an uneven road. The numer-
ical results confirm that the dominant frequencies of
traffic induced vibrations are determined by the vehi-
cle characteristics, the unevenness profile and, impor-
tantly, the soil stratification, as has been confirmed by
in situ experiments (Lombaert and Degrande 2001).
Present developments include the dynamic interac-
tion of the incident wave field with structures as well
as the development of source models for trains run-
ning on surface tracks and in tunnels, but have not
been treated in the present paper.
REFERENCES
Apsel, R. and J. Luco (1983). On the Green’s functions
for a layered half-space. Part II. Bulletin of the Seis-
mological Society of America 73, 931–951.
Aubry, D. and D. Clouteau (1992). A subdomain ap-
proach to dynamic soil-structure interaction. In
V. Davidovici and R. Clough (Eds.), Recent ad-
vances in Earthquake Engineering and Struc-
tural Dynamics, pp. 251–272. Nantes: Ouest Edi-
tions/AFPS.
Aubry, D., D. Clouteau, and G. Bonnet (1994, De-
cember). Modelling of wave propagation due to
fixed or mobile dynamic sources. In N. Chouw and
G. Schmid (Eds.), Workshop Wave ’94, Wave prop-
agation and Reduction of Vibrations, Rühr Univer-
sity, Bochum, Germany, pp. 109–121.
Degrande, G., G. De Roeck, P. Van den Broeck, and
D. Smeulders (1998). Wave propagation in layered
dry, saturated and unsaturated poroelastic media. In-
ternational Journal of Solids and Structures 35(34-
35), 4753–4778. Poroelasticity Maurice A. Biot
memorial issue.
Draelants, G. (1994). Dispersie van oppervlaktegolven
in een horizontaal gelaagde halfruimte. Master’s
thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven.
Haskell, N. (1953). The dispersion of surface waves on
multilayered media. Bulletin of the Seismological
Society of America 73, 17–43.
Hunt, H. (1991). Modelling of road vehicles for calcu-
lation of traffic-induced ground vibrations. Journal
of Sound and Vibration 144(1), 41–51.
Kausel, E. and J. Roësset (1977). Semianalytical hy-
perelement for layered strata. Journal of the En-
gineering Mechanics Division, Proceedings of the
ASCE 103(EM4), 569–588.
Kausel, E. and J. Roësset (1981). Stiffness matrices for
layered soils. Bulletin of the Seismological Society
of America 71(6), 1743–1761.
Lombaert, G. and G. Degrande (2001). Experimental
validation of a numerical prediction model for free
field traffic induced vibrations by in situ experi-
ments. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineer-
ing 21(6), 485–497.
Lombaert, G., G. Degrande, and D. Clouteau (2000).
Numerical modelling of free field traffic induced vi-
brations. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineer-
ing 19(7), 473–488.
Lombaert, G., G. Degrande, and D. Clouteau (2001).
The influence of the soil stratification on free field
traffic induced vibrations. Archive of Applied Me-
chanics 71(10), 661–678.
Luco, J. and R. Apsel (1983). On the Green’s functions
for a layered half-space. Part I. Bulletin of the Seis-
mological Society of America 4, 909–929.
Rajapakse, R. and T. Senjuntichai (1995). Dynamic
response of a multi-layered poroelastic medium.
Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynam-
ics 24, 703–722.
Rayleigh, J. (1887). On waves propagated along the
plane surface of an elastic solid. Proceedings of the
London Mathematical Society 17, 4–11.
Thomson, W. (1950). Transmission of elastic waves
through a stratified solid medium. Journal of Ap-
plied Physcis 21, 89–93.
Waas, G. (1972). Linear two-dimensional analysis of
soil dynamic problems in semi-infinite layer me-
dia. Ph. D. thesis, Department of Civil Engineering,
University of California, Berkeley.
Xu, P.-C. and A. Mal (1985). An adaptive integration
scheme for irregularly oscillatory functions. Wave
Motion 7, 235–243.
Xu, P.-C. and A. Mal (1987). Calculation of the in-
plane Green’s functions for a layered viscoelastic
solid. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of Amer-
ica 77(5), 1823–1837.