On modelling three-dimensional elastodynamic wave propagation with boundary spectral element method

In this paper, a boundary spectral element method (BSEM) for solving the problem of three-dimensional wave propagation is introduced. In the new formulation, elastodynamics of structures is computed by the Laplace transformed boundary element method (BEM), and boundaries of structures are discretised into high-order isoparametric spectral elements. Three types of spectral elements - Lobatto, Gauss-Legendre and Chebyshev elements - have been implemented. With a significantly higher computational efficiency than the conventional BEM, the BSEM provides a competitive alternative for modelling high-frequency wave propagation in engineering applications.