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Soil stresses under a polygonal area uniformly loaded

Efforts du sol sous un polygon uniformement charge

J. DAMY R.. Professor of Civil Engineering. National University, Mexico

C. CASALES G., Cons. Eng., Bufete Industrial; Assist. Prof., National University, Mexico

SYNOPSIS Boussinesq's, Westergaard's and Frohlich's equations for normal stress Oz are
integrated over a triangle, The integration is generalized for any polygonal area.

INTRODUCTION such as those proposed by H. G.

In Soil Mechanics it is very useful to obtain
the soil stresses produced by superficial
loading. This is accomplished using the
formulas for the normal vertical stress a z at
a point, caused by a vertical concentrated load
applied at the surface. The most widely used
formulas are given below.
1974 who used the so called sector
method, as well as the popular chart by N. M.
Newmark (1942).
There is no known solution for an area of any
polygonal shape. This paper presents a method
conducive to an exact solution.

(i) Boussinesq's equation

INTLGRATION OF THE STRESS UNDER A VERTEX OF A
UNIFORMLY LOADED TRIANGULAR AREA
(1)
The stress is obtained by integration under
~he ~enter
P of a circular sector (Fig. 1)
(ii) Westergaard's equation with radius R and central angle 8, loaded with
a uniformly distributed vertical load q. The'
( 2) various SOl'ltions are

(i) Boussinesq's equation

(iii) Frohlich's equation

XQ [1 + (r/z) 2
( x + 2) I' (4 )

211 z 2 (3)

where:
(ii) Westergaard's equation
Q vertical concentrated load
r = horizontal projection of the
distance between the load Q and
Oz {I - K[K2 + (R/z) 2]-1/2} (5)

the point P where the stress is

evaluated (iii) Frohlich's equation
z = depth of point P
az {1 - [ 1 + (R/z) 2 ] -xlz 1 (6)
K f1:2v
,j m=vT
v Poisson's ratio of the soil
X parameter with values 2, 3 or 4
Observe that when X = 3, in Frohl ich' s
equation, one obtains the Boussinesq's
equation.
rdr 8
In order to determine the normal stress Oz
caused by a uniform vertical load, it is
necessary to integrate the expression given by qdA
the formulas (I), (2) or (3) over the area
where the load is distributed.
An exact solution, is known for the stress
under the corner of a rectangular' area P
uniformly loaded (Fadum) and some a~proximate
solutions are known for the case of an "rea of Fig. 1 Circular Sector

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Usipg the results given in (4) 1 (5) or (6) it (iii) Frohlich's equation
is possible to obtain Oz under a vertex P of
any triangle. In Fig. 2 a differential
circular sector whose central angle is de is
considered. The distance R is a function of 0
as shown in the figure:

R = H sec0
Integrating with X 2, we obtain

a q [_,[t::lnG2]
tan ----- -tan _1[tanO']l
----- (9)
271J1+a
2
~ ~
Integrating with X'" 4, we obtain

height of
th8 triangle
P

Fig. 2 Triangular Area

The following solutions are obtained

(10)
(i) Boussinesq's equation

az = i! IfG

G,
2 1 - a 3 [ a 2 + sec 2 e J
3/2
1
fdG
The process of integration was, in general,
simple. However in the case of the Boussinesq's
equation the integration was rather complicated.

integrating we obtain INTEGRATION FOR AN AREA OF ANY POLYGONAL SHAPE

Since a polygon can be subdivided in triangular

areas (Fig. 3), it is possible to apply the
integration formulas obtained above in
sequential form to all the resulting triangles.

tanG, ]} (7 )
+
Ja 2 +sec 2 0\
2 (xz, yz )
(x, ,y,) 4 I
where a is the ratio z/H and II is the
height of the triangle
/
/ /
(ii) Westergaard's equation / / /
I 1//

f'
r.: ! 1 - b [b'
0\
+ ",e'er/'lde
~I/;
?
--
(xP,yp)

Fig. 3 Polygonal Uniformly Loaded

integrating we obtain

In Fig. 3, the triangles P12, p23 and P34 give

a positive contribution to the oz-values under
P while the triangles P45 and P51 contribute
negatively. Note that the numbering of the
vertices is counterclockwise.
(8 )

The formulas for a polygon of n vertices will

be obtained applying reiteratedly the equations
(7), (8), (9) or (10) at the n-triangles formed
where b is the ratio z/H rrultiplied by the pOint P and tv.'o consecutive vertices i
by the constant K. and i+l.

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(i) Boussinesq's equation Kaic ki

W (k=l,2)
ki

ht
2 2
Jl + K a 3. + C~i
192i -eli-tan _I [B2i] +tan _I [Bli] +
J

III ki (k=l,2)

'=1 +[B'i-B,J;[-, + (111

aicki
Nki (k=l,2)
1 + a~ + C
3. ki
(ii) Westergaard's equation

~~fe2i-eli-tan-1 [W2i] +tan-

CONCLUSIONS
I
[Wli]l (12)
With the proposed formulas (11), (12), (13) or
3.=ll (14) will be easy to calculate the normal
stress 0z at any point P within a soil loaded
(iii) Frohlich's equation by a uniform vertical load distributed over a
polygonal area. In fact one of the author (C.
With X = 2 Casales G.) has written a computer-program for
the determination of 0z in a HP-4ICV computer.
n

.-9:'" r-:;
21T'L...
_1_ (13)
FINAL COMMENT AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
i=LJl+a~3.
Both authors obtained the sarne results
presented in this paper working independently.
With X = 4
The authors wish to express their gratitude to
Prof. Arturo Arias and Mr. David Borizon Ch.,
n who, working independently, obtained the
solution for the indefinite integral in the
Boussinesq's equation.

REFERENCES

Boussinesq, J. (1885). Application des

Potentials a l'Etude de l'Equilibre et
de Mouvement des Solides Elastiques.
Gauthier-Villars, Paris.
where:
-I Westergaard, H. M. (1939). A Problem of
tan Cli Elasticity Suggested by a Problem in
_1
Soil Mechanics: Soft Material
O2 i tan C2i Reinforced by Numerous Strong Horizontal
C li [Xi (xi+l -xi) + Yi (Yi+, - Yi l ] IF i Sheets. Sixtieth ~niversary Volume of
S. Timoshenko, Contributions of
e2i [Xi+l (Xi+l - xi) + Yi+l (Y + 1 f - Yi l I Mechanics of Solids, MacMillan Pub. Co.,
New York.
x', x, - X
3. 3. P
Frohlich, O.K. (1934). Druckverteilung in
Xi+l = x i + 1 - xp
Baugrunde. (Distribution of Pressunes
y', Yi - Yp in Soils). Springer Verlag, B~rlin.
3.
Yi+1 Yi+ 1 - Yp Poulos, H.G. and Davis E.H. (1974). Elastic
coordinates of point P Solutions for Soil and Rock Mechanics.
John Wiley & Sons, New York.
coordinates of vertex i
, Yi+ 1 = coordinates of vertex i+ 1 Newmark, N.M. (1947). Influence Charts for
Computation of Vertical Displacements
xi Yi+l - x.1+ 1Y ' i in Elastic Foundations. Univ. of Ill.
IZLi /F il Eng. Expt. Stn., Bull. No. 367.

J (Xi+l - x',) 2
3.
+ 1
(Y +1 y', ) 2
3.
Fadum, R.E. (1948) InflUence Values for
Estimating Stresses in Elastic
aiC ki Foundations. Proc. 2nd. Int. Conf. Soils
(k=l,2) Mechs. Fndn. Eng., Vol. 3, pp 77-84.
Bki
b + a~
3.
+ C2
ki

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