A general 3D BEM/FEM coupling applied to elastodynamic continua/frame structures interaction analysis

This paper presents a procedure for coupling general "nite element models with three-dimensional bodies modelled by the Boundary Element Method (BEM). Shells, plates and frames are modelled by the Finite Element Method (FEM) and coupled to the BEM domain directly or by means of rigid blocks. The coupling is used for the analysis of buildings connected to half-space by means of rigid footings, piles or plates in bending and other problems where combinations of di!erent types of sub-domains are required, composite domains for instance. Several numerical examples are analysed to demonstrate the robustness and accuracy of the proposed scheme.