Use of coordinate-free numerics in elastic wave simulation

The modeling of elastic waves in solids and fluids is widely applied in phy sics and geophysics and often requires large computer codes for its realiza tion. Despite the fact that different wave propagation problems have many s imilarities from the point of view of the abstract mathematical formulation , such codes are usually hard to adapt to new problems and changing require ments. In this paper we discuss a so-called coordinate-free approach for the gener al computer implementation of tensor-field equations. We show how it applie s to the modeling of seismic waves in isotropic and anisotropic structures, sonic waves in boreholes and ultrasonic waves in poro-elastic fluid-filled materials. The results clearly indicate that the coordinate-free approach is very flexible for the implementation of various wave propagation problem s. (C) 2001 IMACS. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.