Dynamic effects of moving load on a poroelastic soil medium by an approximate method

The problem of the dynamic response of a fully saturated poroelastic soil stratum on bedrock subjected to a moving load is studied by using the theory of Mei and Foda under conditions of plane strain. The applied load is considered to be the sum of a large number of harmonics with varying frequency in the form of a Fourier expansion. The method of solution considers the total field to be approximated by the superposition of an elastodynamic problem with modified elastic constants and mass density for the whole domain and a diffusion problem for the pore fluid pressure confined to a boundary layer near the free surface of the medium. Both problems are solved analytically in the frequency domain. The effects of the shear modulus, permeability and porosity of the soil medium and the velocity of the moving load on the dynamic response of the soil layer are numerically evaluated and compared with those obtained by the exact solution of the problem. It is concluded that for fine poroelastic materials, the accuracy of the present method against the exact one is excellent.