CHAPTER 2

VERTICAL STRESSES
DISTRIBUTION IN SOIL
(PART 2_WEEK 3)

BY: MADAM FARAH WAHIDA BINTI MOHD LATIB

LESSON OUTCOMES (LO)

At the end of this chapter, student should be able to:

a)Explain the meaning of total stress, effective stress and overburden
pressure.

b)Describe the concept of soil response to stress: elastic, plastic and elasto-
plastic.

c)Conduct empirical analysis and evaluate different stresses in soil due to point
load, line load, uniform strip load, triangular strip load, uniformly loaded circular
area & uniformly loaded rectangular area using Boussinesq Theory, Fadum’s
and Newmark Chart.
PART 2 - TYPES & CALCULATION OF VERTICAL STRESS
(POINT,LINE, STRIP & TRIANGULAR LOAD)
FACTORS AFFECTING VERTICAL STRESS

There are many factors, amongst the important factors are:

 Size & shape of foundation – square, circle & rectangular
 Load distribution – triangle, strip & line
 Contact pressure – depends on the type of soil
immediately below the foundation
 Modulus of elasticity – variation of modulus with depth
 Rigid boundary – when depth is LESS than 4 TIMES
the width of footing, pressure has to be taken into
account
ASSUMPTIONS IN
DETERMINING SOIL STRESS:
Soil mass in elastic medium & modulus of
elasticity is constant
The soil mass is homogenous, isotropic &
linear – constituent parts or elements are
similar
Soil is semi-infinite
STRESSES IN SOIL FROM SURFACE LOAD – TYPES
OF LOADING IN VERTICAL STRESS
• Point load
• Vertical load transferred from
an electric power pole line.

• Line Load
• Long brick wall

• Circular load
• Water tank
STRESSES IN SOIL FROM SURFACE LOAD – TYPES
OF LOADING IN VERTICAL STRESS

• Strip load
• Long road embankment

• Triangular load
• Side of an embankment

• Rectangular load
• Structural foundation

• Irregular load
IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND
VERTICAL STRESS?:

To predict the distribution

To predict the settlement
of load towards the depth
of the soil
& radius

To prevent from under or

To design the suitable
over design of the
load, impose to the soil
foundation
VERTICAL STRESS
1. POINT LOAD
Boussinesq’s method
(1885)
Point load, Q (kN)

Where Ip is the Influence Factor

Depth, Ip can be obtained from Boussinesq

equation below Or alternatively, use
Table 1.1.
VERTICAL STRESSES UNDER POINT LOAD
Table 1.1 Influence Factor for Point Load
VERTICAL STRESSES UNDER POINT LOAD

• Figure shows the

distribution of pressure
form point load (After
Craig, 2001).
VERTICAL STRESSES UNDER POINT LOAD
- Example
Q1=1200 kN Q2=600 kN

r1=2m r2=6m
z=2m

Solution (You can tabulated answer for simplicity)

Load z r r/z Ip Q Δσz (kN/m2)
(kN)
2 1 0.0844 1200 25.32
Q1 2 2 1 0.0844 1200 25.32
6 3 0.0015 600 0.225
Q2 2 6 3 3 0.0015 600 0.225
Vertical stress increased at Point A is 25.55 kN/m2
VERTICAL STRESS
2. LINE LOAD

Q (kN/m)
(kN/m)
Where IL is the Influence Factor

IL can be obtained from Boussinesq

equation below Or alternatively, use
Table 1.2.

r
Table 1.2 Influence Factor, IL for Line
Load

x/
z
VERTICAL
STRESSES
UNDER LINE
LOAD
 VERTICAL STRESSES UNDER LINE LOAD
-Example
TWO (2) parallel line loads of 100 kN/m and 50 kN/m respectively and 2 m apart, act
vertically on a horizontal soil surface. Calculate the vertical stress increase at depth of 2
m directly at the middle points between them.
Q1=100 kN/m Q2=50 kN/m

r1=1m r2=1m
z=2m

Solution

Load z r r/z IL Q Δσz (kN/m2)

(kN/m)
2 1 0.5 0.407 100 20.35
Q1 2 1 0.5 0.407 100 20.35
2 1 0.5 0.407 50 10.175
Q2 2 1 0.5 0.407 50 10.175
Vertical stress increased is 30.525
VERTICAL STRESS
3. UNIFORM STRIP LOAD
b b
Q
(kN/m2)

Where Is is the Influence Factor

Is can be obtained from Table 1.3.

VERTICAL STRESSES UNDER UNIFORM STRIP LOAD
Table 1.3 Influence Factor, Is for Uniform Strip Load
x/b

z/b 0.0 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.25 1.50 2.00 3.00 5.00 10.00
0.00 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 0.500 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.20 0.997 0.996 0.992 0.979 0.979 0.500 0.059 0.011 0.002 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.40 0.977 0.973 0.955 0.906 0.773 0.498 0.178 0.059 0.011 0.001 0.000 0.000
0.60 0.937 0.928 0.896 0.825 0.691 0.495 0.258 0.120 0.030 0.004 0.000 0.000
0.80 0.881 0.869 0.829 0.755 0.638 0.489 0.305 0.173 0.056 0.010 0.001 0.000
1.00 0.818 0.805 0.766 0.696 0.598 0.480 0.332 0.214 0.084 0.017 0.002 0.000
1.20 0.755 0.743 0.707 0.646 0.564 0.466 0.347 0.243 0.111 0.026 0.004 0.000
1.40 0.696 0.685 0.653 0.602 0.534 0.455 0.354 0.263 0.135 0.037 0.005 0.000
1.60 0.642 0.633 0.605 0.562 0.515 0.440 0.356 0.276 0.155 0.048 0.008 0.000
1.80 0.593 0.585 0.563 0.526 0.497 0.425 0.353 0.284 0.172 0.060 0.010 0.000
2.00 0.550 0.543 0.524 0.494 0.455 0.409 0.348 0.288 0.185 0.071 0.013 0.001
2.50 0.462 0.456 0.445 0.426 0.400 0.370 0.328 0.285 0.205 0.095 0.022 0.002
3.00 0.396 0.393 0.385 0.372 0.355 0.334 0.305 0.274 0.211 0.114 0.032 0.003
3.50 0.345 0.343 0.338 0.329 0.317 0.302 0.281 0.258 0.210 0.127 0.042 0.004
4.00 0.306 0.304 0.301 0.294 0.285 0.275 0.259 0.242 0.205 0.134 0.051 0.006
5.00 0.248 0.247 0.245 0.242 0.237 0.231 0.222 0.212 0.188 0.139 0.065 0.010
6.00 0.208 0.208 0.207 0.205 0.202 0.198 0.192 0.186 0.171 0.136 0.075 0.015
8.00 0.158 0.157 0.157 0.156 0.155 0.153 0.150 0.147 0.140 0.122 0.083 0.025
10.00 0.126 0.126 0.126 0.126 0.125 0.124 0.123 0.121 0.117 0.107 0.082 0.032
15.00 0.085 0.085 0.085 0.084 0.084 0.084 0.083 0.083 0.087 0.078 0.069 0.041
20.00 0.054 0.064 0.064 0.063 0.063 0.063 0.063 0.063 0.062 0.061 0.056 0.041
50.00 0.025
100.00 0.013
VERTICAL STRESS
4. TRIANGULAR LOAD

Q
(kN/m2)

Where IT is the Influence Factor

IT can be obtained from Table 1.4.

VERTICAL STRESSES UNDER UNIFORM TRIANGULAR LOAD
Table 1.4 Influence Factor, IT for Uniform Triangle Load
x/c
z/c -2.00 -1.50 -1.00 -0.50 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.25 1.50 2.00
0.00 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.200 0.400 0.600 0.800 0.500 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.20 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.002 0.061 0.209 0.395 0.577 0.697 0.437 0.050 0.009 0.001
0.40 0.000 0.001 0.003 0.013 0.110 0.227 0.372 0.497 0.527 0.379 0.136 0.042 0.007
0.60 0.001 0.003 0.008 0.031 0.140 0.023 0.334 0.409 0.414 0.328 0.177 0.080 0.018
0.80 0.003 0.006 0.016 0.049 0.155 0.225 0.294 0.339 0.337 0.285 0.187 0.106 0.032
1.00 0.005 0.011 0.025 0.064 0.159 0.211 0.258 0.286 0.283 0.250 0.184 0.121 0.046
1.20 0.008 0.016 0.034 0.075 0.157 0.195 0.227 0.245 0.243 0.221 0.175 0.126 0.057
1.40 0.011 0.021 0.041 0.083 0.151 0.179 0.202 0.215 0.213 0.197 0.165 0.127 0.066
1.60 0.015 0.026 0.048 0.087 0.143 0.165 0.182 0.190 0.189 0.178 0.154 0.124 0.072
1.80 0.018 0.031 0.053 0.089 0.135 0.152 0.164 0.171 0.170 0.161 0.143 0.120 0.076
2.00 0.021 0.035 0.057 0.089 0.127 0.140 0.150 0.155 0.015 0.148 0.134 0.115 0.078
2.50 0.028 0.042 0.062 0.086 0.110 0.117 0.122 0.125 0.124 0.121 0.113 0.103 0.078
3.00 0.033 0.046 0.062 0.080 0.095 0.100 0.103 0.105 0.104 0.102 0.095 0.091 0.074
3.50 0.037 0.048 0.060 0.073 0.084 0.087 0.089 0.090 0.090 0.089 0.085 0.081 0.069
4.00 0.038 0.048 0.058 0.067 0.075 0.077 0.078 0.079 0.079 0.076 0.076 0.073 0.064
5.00 0.039 0.045 0.051 0.057 0.061 0.062 0.063 0.063 0.063 0.062 0.062 0.060 0.055
6.00 0.037 0.041 0.046 0.049 0.052 0.052 0.530 0.053 0.053 0.052 0.052 0.051 0.048
8.00 0.032 0.035 0.037 0.038 0.039 0.039 0.040 0.040 0.040 0.039 0.039 0.039 0.038
10.00 0.028 0.029 0.030 0.031 0.032 0.032 0.032 0.032 0.032 0.032 0.032 0.031 0.031
15.00 0.020 0.020 0.021 0.021 0.021 0.021 0.021 0.021 0.021 0.021 0.021 0.021 0.021
20.00 0.015 0.016 0.016 0.016 0.016 0.016 0.016 0.016 0.016 0.016 0.016 0.016 0.016
50.00 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006