ABSTRACT
During the last decade, a considerable research effort has been devoted to the development of numerical and semi-analytical methods for the modelling of unbounded structures submitted to dynamic load conditions. The increasing significance of this issue is related to the current expansion of high-speed railway lines. This kind of structure is difficult to model due to several reasons, namely the infinite character of its geometry. However, this apparent drawback can be transformed into an advantage, since it confers to these structures the necessary properties to be dealt with by numerical models developed in the wavenumber-frequency domain, employing Fourier expansions along space and time. This is the main concept behind most of the more sophisticated modelling strategies that have been followed in recent years.
