Civil Engineering Association

Dynamic stiffness of foundation on layered soil half-space using cone frustums

Approximate dynamic-stiffness coefficients of a disk on the surface of a single layer on a half-space may be calculated using cone models. This concept is generalized to the case of a horizontally stratified site consisting of many layers on a homogeneous half-space. After constructing the so-called ‘backbone cone’ determining the radii of the disks at all interfaces, the dynamic-stiffness matrices of the layers (modelled as cone frustums) and the dynamic-stiffness coefficient of the underlying half-space (modelled as a cone) are assembled to that of the site. The dynamic-stiffness matrix of a layer is a complex-valued function of frequency because radiation of energy in the horizontal direction is considered. In this model of the layered half-space the properties of the cone reproduce themselves (cloning). The advantages of using cone models are also present for the layered half-space; in particular, no transformation to the wave-number domain is performed.