Elastodynamic Solutions of a Finite Soil Layer under Interior Distributed Actions

Through a method of displacement potentials, Fourier series, and Hankel integral transformation, the generalized solutions of an elastic layer resting on a rigid base under arbitrary, distributed, buried, and time-harmonic loads are developed in this study. With the proposed solution, the specific results for two kinds of uniform distributions as a kind of fundamental solutions in the interaction analysis of media and inclusions by the method of boundary integral equations are included as illustrations. Finally, numerical examples involving surface and buried patch loads are presented to validate the solutions and examine the effects of the thickness of the elastic layer. The results show that the proposed solution can cover the classical half-space solution by taking enough large thickness of the elastic layer (e.g., the ratio of the layer thickness beneath the load to the load radius ≥ 50 ) and the surface load solution by setting the load depth to zero; the underlying rigid base has significant and complex influence on the dynamic response of the thin layer due to wave reflections, which needs to be considered in the design and practice of related engineering.