“…Other forms of localised energy dissipation also exist, particularly at the boundary supports (Kang and Kim, 19961 Oliveto et al, 19971 Fan et al, 1998). The relationship between modal complexity and 1110 A. PAU and F. VESTRONI wave propagation phenomena was analysed in detail by Ahmida and Arruda (2002), where a modal complexity factor was introduced. To describe these phenomena, the spectral element method (SEM) is employed, since it enables us to use semi-infinite elements, usually known as throw-off elements, to represent the propagation of the wave towards infinity (Doyle and Farris, 19901 Bettes, 19921 Doyle, 1997).…”