Computational Modeling of Wave Propagation in a Geophysical Domain
Abstract
The propagation of shear (S) and compression (P) waves within the earth allows geologists to track seismic events and to identify subterranean structure. Highly specialized geological based computer programs developed have been instrumental in determining the location and characteristics of natural phenomena (e.g., earthquakes) and man-made activity (e.g., nuclear-blast tests). Use of these internally developed programs requires regular maintenance, and the reliance on supercomputers limits broad accessibility. This paper seeks to demonstrate that commercially available software running on desktop computational resources can provide accurate solutions to an important subset of problems associated with wave propagation in the geophysical domain. The work presented here uses COMSOL Multiphysics to solve the equilibrium equations for a time-varying system using the finite element method. This work focuses on developing a benchmark solution of a homogeneous half-space loading with an impact and develops a general closed-form solution against which to compare the computational results. These results show the ability to resolve both S and P wave across the computational domain. Thus, COMSOL Multiphysics running on desktop computational resources provides sufficiently accurate results for critical geophysical wave propagation problems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA590526
Entities
People
- Jason Mckenna
- Jeffrey Crompton
- Kyle Koppenhoefer
- Mihan H. McKenna
- Sergei Yushanov
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center