Boundary elements for half-space problems via fundamental solutions: A three-dimensional analysis

An efficient solution technique is proposed for the three-dimensional boundary element modelling of half-space problems. The proposed technique uses alternative fundamental solutions of the half-space (Mindlin's solutions for isotropic case) and full-space (Kelvin's solutions) problems. Three-dimensional infinite boundary elements are frequently employed when the stresses at the internal points are required to be evaluated. In contrast to the published works, the strongly singular line integrals are avoided in the proposed solution technique, while the discretization of infinite elements is independent of the finite boundary elements. This algorithm also leads to a better numerical accuracy while the computational time is reduced. Illustrative numerical examples for typical isotropic and transversely isotropic half-space problems demonstrate the potential applications of the proposed formulations. Incidentally, the results of the illustrative examples also provide a parametric study for the imperfect contact problem. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.