Two- and three-dimensional modelling of half-space and train-track embankment under dynamic loading

Two modelling approaches for the analyses of half-space and train-track embankment on half-space subjected to dynamic loads are presented and compared. A three-dimensional (3D) modelling approach is performed by a coupled Boundary Element-Boundary Element method (BE-BE) and a two-dimensional (2D) one by a coupled Boundary Element-Finite Element method (BE-FE). Both approaches employ time domain algorithms. The comparison between the results of the presented approaches points out whether a problem can be treated as a 2D or as a 3D case. As an application, a parametric study of the wave propagation problem in a train-track embankment with an underlying half-space is presented. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.