Modeling Shear Horizontal Waves in Concrete Using Time Domain Spectral Element Method

ABSTRACT A numerical model has been developed to simulate shear horizontal (SH) waves and their interaction with various structural interfaces in concrete‐like media. The model employs an arbitrary quadrilateral‐element mesh, allowing flexibility in modelling internal heterogeneities. It also effectively accommodates intricate internal features, like defects, arbitrary thin cracks, reinforcement bars and drains in concrete structure. The spectral element method is utilized, offering significantly faster convergence rate and reduced computational time compared to the conventional finite element method. The model is compared with the conventional FEM method, commercially available software and validated through comparisons with experimentally obtained scattered field on a multiple concrete specimen. The results show strong agreement in terms of waveform shapes in both time and frequency domain, and arrival time. Therefore, the developed shear horizontal model has the potential to simulate large and complex domains, such as concrete members and joints, and may contribute to the evolving field of non‐destructive evaluation of concrete.