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 3A/42

The Influence of Foundation Depth on Stress Distribution

Influence de la profondeur de la fondation sur la répartition des contraintes

by J. S k o pe k , Ing., C. Sc. (Techn.), Senior Assistant, Faculty o f Civil Engineering, Technical University o f Praha

Summary
Foundation settlements are usually estimated by the use of
the classical Boussinesq solution for a point load acting on the
surface of a semi-infinite elastic solid. This means that the soil
above the level of the foundation is assumed to be talcing no
part in the distribution of stress due to the load on the foundation.
In calculating stresses within a mass of soil when the foundations
are relatively deep, it may be advisable to use solutions derived
for the case of forces applied within a semi-infinite elastic medium.
The author deals with the general solutions for the vertical
stresses in a semi-infinite elastic plate due to a uniform limited
length line load acting in the interior of the plate and the vertical
stresses in a semi-infinite solid due to the action o f a uniformly
distributed load on a rectangular area and a strip load acting
in the interior of the solid.
The influence of the depth o f a foundation on stress distribution
is studied by means o f photoelasticity.
Sommaire
La déterm ination du tassem ent des constructions demande
la connaissance des contraintes provoquées dans le sol. G éné­
ralem ent on calcule les contraintes par la théorie de Boussinesq,
pou r un solide élastique semi-infini soumis à sa surface libre
à une force ponctuelle verticale. L’application de cette théorie
est valable pour les fondations en surface. Elle l’est moins pour
les fondations profondes parce q u ’elle néglige l’influence de la
profondeur sur la répartition des contraintes. Pour celles-ci,
il est indiqué de se référer au problèm e du corps élastique semi-
infini soumis à une force verticale à une profondeur au-dessous
de sa surface.
D ans ce rap p o rt est traité la solution générale des contraintes
verticales provoquées p ar une charge uniform ém ent répartie
sur une bande infinie ou sur un rectangle appliqué à une certaine
profondeur dans un solide semi-infini.
L ’influence de la profondeur de la fondation sur la répartition
des contraintes est étudiée par la méthode photoélasticimétrique.

Introduction
T he state o f stress in a sem i-infinite p late load ed in the
in terio r by a force p erp en d icu lar to its straig h t b o u n d ary
w as solved by M e l a n [1], T he th ree-d im en sio n al case o f a
force acting in the in terio r o f a sem i-infinite solid w as solved
b y M i n d l i n [2],
E q u atio n s fo r stresses, due to a lo ad o n a flexible area
can be derived by in teg ratio n o f eq u atio n s for co n cen trated
loads. T h e vertical stress is o f g reater significance in p rac­
tical problem s a n d the a u th o r has th erefo re co n cen trated
his a tte n tio n u p o n it.

Vertical stress due to a uniform continuous load plane stress

T h e vertical co m p o n en ts o f stress a2 due to a force acting
vertically in the in terio r o f a sem i-infinite p late w ith h o rizo n tal
b o u n d a ry w ere given by eq u atio n s d erived b y M elan. V er­
tical stress due to a flexible u n ifo rm co n tin u o u s lo ad , as
show n o n F ig. 1, can be o b tain ed by in teg ratio n o f eq u atio n ,

1 + [x ¡{z - /;)3 (z + A) [2/iz + (z A)2

1 I A Fig.
plate.
Charge uniform ém ent répartie à l’intérieur d ’une plaque
8 hz{z + h)x‘ — [L I z — h 3z + h 4z x 2 semi-infinie.
+ T T
j dx.

th e lo ad p, o f w idth 2 a actin g at a d ep th h below the b o u n d ary .

w here
= x 2 + (z — A)2
(1 + fi.) (z - h)a
= X2 + (z + A)2. g2 = - arc tg + arc tg
[' z - h z + h 2[a2 + (z - /;)2]
S olving this integral, a gen eral e q u a tio n is o b tain ed for ( 1)
the vertical stress due to a u n ifo rm lo ad acting below the [2(z -f A ) + (z — /;) (1 — ¡i.)]o (1 -I- [i)2Az(z + h)a
b o u n d a ry (vide Ref. [3]). F ro m this eq u a tio n it is possible -» r 9 ! / ! TvXi
2[a2 + (z + A)2] [a2 + (z + /i)2]2
to determ ine stresses pro d u ced a lo n g th e vertical axis o f ]
815
Vertical stress due to a uniform rectangular area load
s8Tr n
(l - (i.) I
“ 20 “ I*) (\ a r c t g V
—S.y
T he vertical co m p o n en ts o f stress d u e to a force acting
vertically in the in terio r o f a sem i-infinite solid w ith h o rizo n tal
{-
b o u n d a ry w ere given by a n e q u a tio n d eriv ed b y M indlin. * x %yi
— a rc tg
iy 2 h, a rc t*g x-----I
- a rc t*g x-------- iy i\ — 2 (1 — ¡j .)
,
V ertical stress due to a flexible re ctan g u lar a rea lo ad w ith
dim ensions 2a x 2b, as show n in Fig. 2, p ro d u ced a t a
4 x ‘2.y-i , x zy-i
--------1, - arc t„g x-----
p o in t M , is given by the d o u b le integral, a rc t g ---------arc t g ------ arc tf g *iJ>2 iy i
“ ■*2u us*„ u s u s n„
r- (l - 2[x) (z - /;)
+
8 t c (1
' xl J„ l * i3 X 2VS2v

yA 2,
+ x 2vs3v + Xl VSiv
W l2 » w * l* y A iv
+
y 2s v 2 v s 2 v
(1 - 2(1) (z - h) 3(z - h f
+ JCjV3 (3 —4\L)zu—h{5z—h)
R 23 R j5
u

J
y iS<ulvS3v y^yZir^iv y isvivsiv
3(3 - 4|i.)z(z + h)2 - 31,{z + /;) (5z - h) 30 hz(z + h)s
dy, , -V lu
R 25 + [(3 —4 fi)z«2 —hu(5z—h)]
*2? ^*2« yi^x2it y2sh u y A iu
w here
-I--------- ------J — 4 hzu
R 1 = V x 2 + y 2 + (z - h)2 y2Sv2uS2u y2Sv2uS4u y isviusiu /
R 2 = -\/x 2 + y 2 + (z + h)2. X9s t , XoS\
2J 3u l J 4ii X' A
t S' _ 6 hz / x 2(y \ - U2)s2u
yp*2u y l4 :u y p x iu y l4 ru « \ y¥ku
x 2(y‘i - “2)s 3u x i(y2 - u2)s.■4u , x M - » 2) s » . \ + 2hzu3
+
y p 22u y l sh u
X2(2y\ + u2) x\ x 2{2y\ + u2) + x\
ypkuhu y%sv2v.s2u yirfiuSau
Xi(2y2 + u2) X? Xl(2y\ + u2)
+
yphA u y l sÎ2u4v y i4 i« slu
(2)

Iv f t t

t t i k — —

z v h f^

M
Fig. 2 U niform ly loaded rectangular area acting in the interior
of a semi-infinite solid.
Charge rectangulaire uniform ém ent répartie à l’intérieur Fig. 3 Designation used fer determ ination of vertical stress
du corps semi-infini. due to a uniformly loaded rectangular area acting
in the interior of a semi-infinite solid.
N otation pour la déterm ination des contraintes verticales
Solving this integral an d using th e n o ta tio n show n in produites par une charge rectangulaire uniformém ent
Fig. 3, we get the general e q u atio n in th e form répartie à l’intérieur du corps semi-infini.
816
 T h e v e rific a tio n o f th e s o lu tio n is sh o w n in R e f. [3], th a t e q u atio n (4) is valid fo r th e case o f p lan e strain , while
F ro m the general eq u atio n special cases can be o b tain ed . eq u a tio n (1) is d erived fo r th e case o f p lan e stress. By taking
V ertical stress a t p oints lying alo n g th e vertical th ro u g h in to acco u n t the relatio n sh ip betw een th e elastic co n stan ts
the centre o f the rectan g u lar area is given by eq u atio n fo r p lan e stress an d plane strain , e q u atio n (4) can be tra n s­
fo rm ed in e q u atio n (1).
T h e d istrib u tio n o f vertical stress alo n g the axis o f a u n i­
ab ab fo rm ly load ed re ctan g u lar area acting below the surface o f
(1 - (jl ) ( arc tg arc tg
7T(1 -
[
(i.) _ ( z - li) R 1 (z+ h )R 2 th e sem i-infinite solid given b y e q u atio n (3) is show n in
Fig. 4 fo r a n u m erical exam ple. F ro m this figure, it can be
(z —h)aR] a{z—h)3 [(3 - 4 [j.)z(z -f It) - h(5z - h)]aR2 seen th a t the n a tu re o f stress is tensile ab o v e the level o f
2br\ 2br\R x 2(z -f ti)br\ th e lo ad an d com pressive below it.
[(3 — 4 [i)z(z + h)2 - h(z h ) (5z — li)]a 2hz(z h)aR\
Zbr\R2 b3r \
3hzaR2r l hz(z + h)3a / 2b2 — (z + h)2
+
(z+ h )b h \ b rjR 2 b2 -Í)]
(3)
w here
R 2 = a 2 + ¿2 + (z _ /,)2 b2 + (z + h f
r j 3 = a2 + (z - h)2 2 = a 2 + { z + h)2

2 = b 2 + { z + h )2
r 32 = b2 + (z — h)2
r 2 = b2 — (z + h) 2 .
V ertical stress a t p o in ts lying alo n g the vertical th ro u g h
th e cen tre o f a u n ifo rm ly lo ad ed strip can be derived after
a p p licatio n o f th e n ccessary lim its as show n below.
a(z - /;)
<*2 = — arc tg + arc tg
z —h 2 [a2 + ( z - h ) 2] (1 — (j l )

4 (3 4 [i)z + /;] 2hz(z + h)a

+ +
2[a2 + (z + I,)2] (1 - (x) [a2 + (z + h)2}2 (1 - |a)
(4)

T his eq u a tio n m ay be co m p ared w ith e q u atio n (1) o b tain ed

fo r th e co rresp o n d in g tw o-dim ensional case. It m ay be n o ted

Fig. 4 Vertical stress along the axis o f uniformly loaded rectan­

gular area with dimensions 2 x 4 m acting at a
depth of 4 m below the surface.
R épartition des contraintes verticales le long de l’axe
de la charge rectangulaire uniform ém ent répartie, Fig. 5 Isochrom atic lines : (a) h = 0, (b) h = 2b, (c) h = 4 b.
de dimensions 2 x 4 m, appliquée à la profondeur Les lignes isochromatiques : (a) h = 0, (b) h = 2by
de 4 m sous la surface. (c) h = Ab.
817
E x perim ental study o f problem
T he ab o v e eq u atio n s for vertical stresses d u e to a c o n ti­
n u o u s lo ad acting below the surface are valid u n d e r certain
co n d itio n s, one o f w hich being th a t co n tin u ity exists in the
p a rts o f the solid abo v e th e level o f th e load transm issio n .
W hen co nsidering fo u n d atio n s, th e ab o v e c o n d itio n is n o t
strictly com plied w ith. T he ex trem e case o f d isco n tin u ity
occurs w hen the load is co n sid ered as actin g a t th e b o tto m
o f the cut. It is difficult to solve this case an aly tically be­
cause the b o u n d a ry co n d itio n s c a n n o t be precisely defined.
T his case is therefore investigated by p h o to elastic experim ents.
A re c ta n g u la r p late from “ e lasto p lex ” 30 x 30 cm an d
1 cm thick, p ro v id ed w ith a re c tan g u lar n o tch 1 cm in w idth
is lo ad ed by a u n ifo rm ly d istrib u ted lo ad actin g a t the
b o tto m o f the notch. T h e d istrib u tio n o f vertical stress alo n g
the vertical th ro u g h the cen tre o f th e n o tch is m easu red
fo r v ary in g depths o f the n o tch , h = 0, 2b, 4b, w here h
is d ep th o f the n o tch a n d 2b is the w idth. T y p ical isochro-
m ats are show n in Fig. 5.
T h e results o f on e set o f ex p erim en ts are given in Fig. 6.
F ro m this figure it is evid en t th a t as th e d e p th o f th e n o tch Fig. 6 D istribution of vertical stress along the axis of the
uniform load as a function o f depth determined from
increases the c o n cen tratio n o f th e vertical stress dim inishes. photoelastic tests.
R épartition des contraintes verticales le long de l'axe de
C onclusions la charge en fonction de la profondeur, déterminées
par la méthode photoélasticim étrique.
F ro m the results o f th eo retical a n d ex p erim en tal in v esti­
gations an d from a stu d y o f p ractical cases, th e follow ing
c o n clu sio n s m ay be d raw n : •
T he d ep th o f th e footin g below th e g ro u n d level influences
th e co n cen tratio n o f vertical stresses in an elastic m ass. T his References
influence, w hich is a red u ctio n , can be a p p a re n t o n ly w hen
the m aterial ab o v e the level o f lo ad tran sm issio n can w ith ­ [1] Mel a n, E. (1932). Der Spannungszustand der durch eine
sta n d tensile stresses. In th e case o f cohesionless soil the Einzelkraf im Inneren beanspruchten Halbscheibe, Zamm
red u ctio n o f c o n cen tratio n is n o t as g reat as it is in cohesive 12 (6), pp. 343-346.
soils. [2] M i n d l i n , R. D. (1936). Force at Point in the Interior of
T he d istrib u tio n o f vertical stress below th e fo u n d a tio n a Semi-Infinite Solid. Physics 7, pp. 195-202.
also depends u p o n the in teractio n betw een th e sides o f the [3] S k o p e k , J. (1960). U niform ly D istributed A rea Load in
fo o tin g an d the su rro u n d in g soil. T he resu ltin g d istrib u tio n the Interior o f a Semi-Infinite Solid, A cta Technica
w ill be sim ilar to th a t given by th e d o tte d line in Fig. 4. (Czechoslowak Academy of Sciences), 5.

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