Computational framework for the BIE solution to inverse scattering problems in elastodynamics

Abstract

The focus of this paper is a computational platform for the non-intrusive, active seismic imaging of subterranean openings by means of an elastodynamic boundary integral equation (BIE) method. On simulating the ground response to steady-state seismic excitation as that of a uniform, semi-infinite elastic solid, solution to the 3D inverse scattering problem is contrived as a task of minimizing the misfit between experimental observations and BIE predictions of the surface ground motion. The forward elastodynamic solution revolves around the use of the half-space Green’s functions, which analytically incorporate the traction-free boundary condition at the ground surface and thus allow the discretization and imaging effort to be focused on the surface of a hidden cavity. For a rigorous approach to the gradient-based minimization employed to resolve the cavity, sensitivities of the trial boundary element model with respect to (geometric) void parameters are evaluated using an adjoint field approach. Details of the computational treatment, including the regularized (i.e. Cauchy principal value-free) boundary integral equations for the primary and adjoint problem, the necessary evaluation of surface displacement gradients and their implementation into a parallel code, are highlighted. Through a suite of numerical examples involving the identification of an ellipsoidal cavity, a parametric study is presented which illustrates the importance of several key parameters on the imaging procedure including the prior information, “measurement” noise, and the amount of experimental input.