B/E Soil stresses under a polygonal area uniformly loaded Efforts du sol sous un polygon uniformément chargé J. DAMY R,, Professor of Civil Engineering, National University, Mexico C. CASALES G., Cons. Eng,, Bufete Industrial; Assist. Prof,, National University, Mexico SYNOPSIS. Boussinesg's, Westergaard's and Fri Lich's equations for normal stress o, are integrated over a triangle. The integration is generalized for any polygonal area. INTRODUCTION 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 o, at a point, caused by a vertical concentrated load applied at the surface. The most widely used formulas are given below. (2) Boussinesg' s equation eee [ae eet] w (1) Westergaara’s equation 9, = BS [Ke eet] (iii) Fréhlich's equation og xa, [2 tery ]OT Ne where vertical concentrated load horizontal projection of the distance between the load Q and the point P where the stress is evaluated 2 = depth of point P [i= 2s y Tv y = Poisson's ratio of the soil X= parameter with values 2, 3 or 4 Observe that when X= 3, in FrSnlich's equation, one obtains the Boussinesg's equation. In order to determine the normal stress 0, caused by a uniform vertical load, it is necessary to integrate the expression given by the formulas (1), (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 uniformly loaded (Fadum) and sone approximate solutions are known for the case of an area of any shape, such as those proposed by H. G. Poulos in’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. INTEGRATION OF THE STRESS UNDER A VERTEX OF A UNIFORMLY LOADED TRIANGULAR AREA The stress o, is obtained by integration under the center P of a circular sector (Fig. 1) with radius R and central angle 0, loaded with a uniformly distributed vertical load q. The various solutions are (2) Bousssnesg's equation - =f [a+ wa}7} w (48) Westergaarda's equation oA fixes wary} (ts) FronLsents equation ogc afr [a+ war] aa = rar R aq = aaa P Fig. 1 Circular Sector 7331/8/6 Using the results given in (4), (5) or (6) it (111) Frblich's eouation is possible to obtain o, under’a vertex P of any triangle. In Fig. 2a differential os circular sector whose central angle is d0 is ai f 8 considered. The distance R is a function of © = at [at + sectel'/*| ao te'show in the figures R= H seco Integrating with X= 2, we obtain Integrating with X= 4, we obtain 2 height of the triangle Fig. 2. Triangular Area The following solutions are obtained france tan®s a w Boussinesq's equation *"latececto, atseec*@: Os os The process of integration was,sin general, cg eat | {x-at[at + cecto]”’““|ao simple. towever in the case’ of” the Boussingag's 27 equation the integration was rather complicated. o 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. 3 (xseys) 2 (easy) (xara) 4 fF wbere a {5 the ravio 2/H and His the a, height of the triangle 1 Gxsiye) 3 iG (a8) Wesvergansé's equation a tween ; Vy oe os Ul = pfpt + sectel"/? EAE 3] {a -[ot + seer feo ot) oe Fig. 3 Polygonal Uniformly Loaded integrating we obtain b anos In Fig. 3, the triangles P12, P23 and P34 give = pifor-ex-tan”| ————] + a positive contribution to the o,-values under F+8ec" Oa. P while the triangles P45 and P51 contribute hegatively. Note that the numbering of the -if _B tener ( vertices is counterclockwise. sean [ 2) [Freecta,. the formulas for a polygon of n vertices will be obtained applying reiteratedly the equations (hy, (8), (9) or (10) at the a-triangles formed where b is the ratio z/H multiplied by the point P and two consecutive vertices i by the constant Re ana ise Q ¥ A+ 734 nw Boussinesg's equation ‘at +h an (ii) Westergaara's equation (445) Préhich's equation with X= 2 with x= 4 Lyme 7 7 le [tex°"( 21) -t20°* (uae wi sea cnd an where cog = [ey Oba RD + EOL - vp) |*: Cag = [He her Pt Yh be oD] Py eee, Hie 7 Ban - YET Y 7 ¥p Vier = Yaw 7 fe 7 Yan 7 Yp Xr coordinates of point P pe’ re xj Yq 7 coordinates of vertex t Keer Vgy, 7 Coordinates of vertex i+? ab 7 Xba age fay tye [Oa Pee Oba - aS, :. ks Lt al + chy KS \V aU oN -¥ 18/6 Ka,C, Shek Hye “Tee (e=2,2) 2 + Kal + Cy s a, ° SE (k=1,2) T+ af alc, uy, = +t (xe, 2) Ltai+ ci ‘CONCLUSIONS With the proposed formulas (11), (12), (13) or (14) will be easy to calculate the normal stress 0, at any point P within a soil loaded by a uniform vertical load distributed over a polygonal area. In fact one of the author (C. Casales G.) has written a computer-program for the determination of o, in a HP-41CV computer. PINAL COMMENT AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT Both authors obtained the same results presented in this paper working independently. The authors wish to express their gratitude to Prof. Arturo Arias and Mr. David Borizon Ch., who, working independently, obtained. the solution for the indefinite integral in the Boussinesg's equation. REFERENCES Boussinesg, J. (1885). Application des Potenticls & 1'Etude de 1'Bquilibre et de Mouvement des Solides Elastiques. Gauthier-Villars, Paris. Westergaard, H. M. (1939). A Problem of Elasticity Suggested by a Problem in Soil Mechanics: Soft Material Reinforced by Numerous Strong Horizontal Sheets. Sixtieth Anniversary Volume of S. Timoshenko, Contributions of Mechanics of Solids, MacMillan Pub. Co., New York. Frohlich, 0.K. (1934). Druckverteilung in Baugrunde, (Distribution of Pressures in Soils). Springer Verlag, Berlin. Poulos, H.G. and Davis E.H. (1974). Elastic Solutions for Soil and Rock Mechanics. John Wiley & Sons, New York. Newmark, N.M. (1947). Influence Charts for ‘Computation of Vertical Displacements in Elastic Foundations. Univ. of Ill. Eng. Expt. Stn., Bull. No. 367. Fadum, R.E. (1948) Influence Values for Estimating Stresses in Elastic Foundations. Proc. 2nd. Int. Conf. Soils Mechs. Fndn. Eng., Vol. 3, pp 77-84. 7368PROCEEDINGS OF THE ELEVENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOIL MECHANICS AND FOUNDATION ENGINEERING SAN FRANCISCO /12-16 AUGUST 1985 EDITOR: PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE OF XI ICSMFE VOLUME 2 TECHNICAL PAPERS EXPOSES TECHNIQUES COMPTES RENDUS DU ONZIEME CONGRES INTERNATIONAL DE MECANIQUE DES SOLS ET DES TRAVAUX DE FONDATIONS SAN FRANCISCO / 12-16 AOUT 1985 EDITEUR: COMITE DES PUBLICATIONS DU XI CIMSTF A.A.BALKEMA/ROTTERDAM/BOSTON / 1985