Since its origin in 1978, the International Conference on Boundary Element Methods has provided the recognized and established forum for innovations in boundary element research. Practically all new ideas on boundary ele ments have been presented at these conferences and the resulting papers can be found in the published books. The conference brings together the most renowned scientists and engineers working on boundary element research throughout the world. A unique feature of these meetings is that the participation of younger researchers is actively encouraged by the organizers in an effort to .bring forward to the attention of the international community an ever expanding range of new ideas. This book contains the edited version of the papers presented at the XIIIth BEM Conference held in Tulsa, Oklahoma in August of 1991. The meeting attracted a large number of participants and many excellent contributions which have been divided into nineteen different sections, i.e. Potential Prob lems; Diffusion and Convection Problems; Fluid Mechanics; Fluid Flow; Wave Propagation; Groundwater Flow; Heat Transfer; Electrical Problems; Geomechanics; Plates and Shells; Inelastic Problems; Damage Tolerance; Contact Mechanics; Industrial Applications; Design Sensitivity and Opti mization; Inverse Problems; Special Techniques; Numerical Aspects and Computational Aspects.

Dynamic Soil-structure interaction is one of the major topics in earthquake engineering and soil dynamics since it is closely related to the safety evaluation of many important engineering projects, such as nuclear power plants, to resist earthquakes. In dealing with the analysis of dynamic soil-structure interactions, one of the most difficult tasks is the modeling of unbounded media. To solve this problem, many numerical methods and techniques have been developed. This book summarizes the most recent developments and applications in the field of dynamic soil-structure interaction, both in China and Switzerland.An excellent book for scientists and engineers in civil engineering, structural engineering, geotechnical engineering and earthquake engineering.

Significant progress in our understanding of the Earth's structure and functioning is dependent on new and original observations. However, these observations cannot be interpreted in a quantitative way without tools to model them, and developing adequate modelling methods is also a prerequisite for progress. Seismological raw data in the 21st century are mostly three-component broadband recordings, and require advanced numerical tools to be modelled, especially if lateral variations in the model are accounted for in addition to the radial stratification of the Earth. Considerable progress has been made concerning modelling of elastic waves in laterally heterogeneous structures in the last decades, taking advantage of the development of computer power. The number of articles related to new developments of diverse methods is enormous and it can be very difficult for newcomers to get an overview of the different methods available, and to be able to find which method is most appropriate for his or her applications. This book aims at giving introductions and basic reviews of the modelling methods for elastic waves in laterally heterogeneous structures which are most commonly used in contemporary seismology, or may have great potential for the future.

This text provides an understanding of the role of Boundary Element Methods (BEM) in the numerical analysis of problems in geomechanics. Topics covered include: computer implementation; wave propagation due to seismicity or to man-related causes; and soil-fluid-structure interaction.