Remarks on the stability of Cartesian PMLs in corners

This work is a contribution to the understanding of the question of stability of Perfectly Matched Layers (PMLs) in corners, at continuous and discrete levels. First, stability results are presented for the Cartesian PMLs associated to a general first-order hyperbolic system. Then, in the context of the pressure-velocity formulation of the acoustic wave propagation, an unsplit PML formulation is discretized with spectral mixed finite elements in space and finite differences in time. It is shown, through the stability analysis of two different schemes, how a bad choice of the time discretization can deteriorate the CFL stability condition. Some numerical results are finally presented to illustrate these stability results

A Simple Multi-Directional Absorbing Layer Method to Simulate Elastic Wave Propagation in Unbounded Domains

The numerical analysis of elastic wave propagation in unbounded media may be difficult due to spurious waves reflected at the model artificial boundaries. This point is critical for the analysis of wave propagation in heterogeneous or layered solids. Various techniques such as Absorbing Boundary Conditions, infinite elements or Absorbing Boundary Layers (e.g. Perfectly Matched Layers) lead to an important reduction of such spurious reflections. In this paper, a simple absorbing layer method is proposed: it is based on a Rayleigh/Caughey damping formulation which is often already available in existing Finite Element softwares. The principle of the Caughey Absorbing Layer Method is first presented (including a rheological interpretation). The efficiency of the method is then shown through 1D Finite Element simulations considering homogeneous and heterogeneous damping in the absorbing layer. 2D models are considered afterwards to assess the efficiency of the absorbing layer method for various wave types and incidences. A comparison with the PML method is first performed for pure P-waves and the method is shown to be reliable in a more complex 2D case involving various wave types and incidences. It may thus be used for various types of problems involving elastic waves (e.g. machine vibrations, seismic waves, etc)

Elliptic harbor wave model with perfectly matched layer and exterior bathymetry effects

Standard strategies for dealing with the Sommerfeld condition in elliptic mild-slope models require strong assumptions on the wave field in the region exterior to the computational domain. More precisely, constant bathymetry along (and beyond) the open boundary, and parabolic approximations–based boundary conditions are usually imposed. Generally, these restrictions require large computational domains, implying higher costs for the numerical solver. An alternative method for coastal/harbor applications is proposed here. This approach is based on a perfectly matched layer (PML) that incorporates the effects of the exterior bathymetry. The model only requires constant exterior depth in the alongshore direction, a common approach used for idealizing the exterior bathymetry in elliptic models. In opposition to standard open boundary conditions for mild-slope models, the features of the proposed PML approach include (1) completely noncollinear coastlines, (2) better representation of the real unbounded domain using two different lateral sections to define the exterior bathymetry, and (3) the generation of reliable solutions for any incoming wave direction in a small computational domain. Numerical results of synthetic tests demonstrate that solutions are not significantly perturbed when open boundaries are placed close to the area of interest. In more complex problems, this provides important performance improvements in computational time, as shown for a real application of harbor agitation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Modeling seismic wave propagation and amplification in 1D/2D/3D linear and nonlinear unbounded media

To analyze seismic wave propagation in geological structures, it is possible to consider various numerical approaches: the finite difference method, the spectral element method, the boundary element method, the finite element method, the finite volume method, etc. All these methods have various advantages and drawbacks. The amplification of seismic waves in surface soil layers is mainly due to the velocity contrast between these layers and, possibly, to topographic effects around crests and hills. The influence of the geometry of alluvial basins on the amplification process is also know to be large. Nevertheless, strong heterogeneities and complex geometries are not easy to take into account with all numerical methods. 2D/3D models are needed in many situations and the efficiency/accuracy of the numerical methods in such cases is in question. Furthermore, the radiation conditions at infinity are not easy to handle with finite differences or finite/spectral elements whereas it is explicitely accounted in the Boundary Element Method. Various absorbing layer methods (e.g. F-PML, M-PML) were recently proposed to attenuate the spurious wave reflections especially in some difficult cases such as shallow numerical models or grazing incidences. Finally, strong earthquakes involve nonlinear effects in surficial soil layers. To model strong ground motion, it is thus necessary to consider the nonlinear dynamic behaviour of soils and simultaneously investigate seismic wave propagation in complex 2D/3D geological structures! Recent advances in numerical formulations and constitutive models in such complex situations are presented and discussed in this paper. A crucial issue is the availability of the field/laboratory data to feed and validate such models.Comment: of International Journal Geomechanics (2010) 1-1

A new construction of perfectly matched layers for the linearized Euler equations

Based on a PML for the advective wave equation, we propose two PML models for the linearized Euler equations. The derivation of the first model can be applied to other physical models. The second model was implemented. Numerical results are shown.Comment: submitted for publication on February 1st 2005 What's new: interface conditions for the first PML model, a 3D section, more numerical result

Detailed analysis of the effects of stencil spatial variations with arbitrary high-order finite-difference Maxwell solver

Due to discretization effects and truncation to finite domains, many electromagnetic simulations present non-physical modifications of Maxwell's equations in space that may generate spurious signals affecting the overall accuracy of the result. Such modifications for instance occur when Perfectly Matched Layers (PMLs) are used at simulation domain boundaries to simulate open media. Another example is the use of arbitrary order Maxwell solver with domain decomposition technique that may under some condition involve stencil truncations at subdomain boundaries, resulting in small spurious errors that do eventually build up. In each case, a careful evaluation of the characteristics and magnitude of the errors resulting from these approximations, and their impact at any frequency and angle, requires detailed analytical and numerical studies. To this end, we present a general analytical approach that enables the evaluation of numerical discretization errors of fully three-dimensional arbitrary order finite-difference Maxwell solver, with arbitrary modification of the local stencil in the simulation domain. The analytical model is validated against simulations of domain decomposition technique and PMLs, when these are used with very high-order Maxwell solver, as well as in the infinite order limit of pseudo-spectral solvers. Results confirm that the new analytical approach enables exact predictions in each case. It also confirms that the domain decomposition technique can be used with very high-order Maxwell solver and a reasonably low number of guard cells with negligible effects on the whole accuracy of the simulation.Comment: 33 pages, 14 figure