The use of boundary elements to represent the far field in soil-structure interaction

To solve soil-structure interaction problems, the modelling is mostly restricted to a two-dimensional representation of the reality. It is only recently that three-dimensional soil-structure interaction problems are attacked. The solution of these problems by using a straight forward finite element representation is very expensive. This paper describes the combination of finite elements and boundary elements for static computations of foundations. The advantages and disadvantages are given. Afterwards, the developments for dynamic analysis using boundary elements are also described. (orig.)