3D elastodynamic solutions to layered transversely isotropic soils considering the groundwater level

The semi-dry or moist sediment above the groundwater level forms the vadose zone, while the continuous groundwater system below the groundwater level forms the aquifer. It is generally believed that the vadose zone is composed of unsaturated soils, while the aquifer is composed of saturated soils. The groundwater level would affect the distribution of unsaturated soils and saturated soil along the depth direction, and further change the dynamic behavior of soils under external excitation. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the 3D dynamic response of layered soils considering the influence of groundwater level. The investigated model is established based on dynamic governing equations of unsaturated soils and saturated soils. The precise integration method is combined with Fourier transform to solve the investigated model. To verify the feasibility, the proposed model is achieved and solved by the user-defined PDE module in COMSOL. The two results are in good agreement. Finally, several parametric analyses are provided to discuss the influence of key parameters on dynamic response of layered soils considering the groundwater level.