Author(s)

G. Degrande, G. De Roeck & P. Van den Broeck

Abstract

In this paper, Srneulders' modification of Biot's saturated poroelastic theory is used to account for the presence of a small amount of air in the pores of an unsaturated medium. The influence of the gas phase on the compress- ibility of the generalized pore fluid is accounted for by a complex effective bulk modulus of the gas phase. This modification is introduced in a spec- tral element formulation, enabling to model transient wave propagation in layered dry, saturated arid unsaturated poroelastic media. The extended application area of the method is illustrated by a numerical example. 1 Introduction A lot of materials encountered in civil, geophysical and biomechanical engi- neering can be considered as a poro

Keywords