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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
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.
(i)

Boussinesq's equation

Westergaard's equation

[1 + (r/z)

( x

2)

v
X

P of a circular sector (Fig. 1)

with radius R and central angle 8, loaded with
a uniformly distributed vertical load q. The'
various SOl'ltions are
Boussinesq's equation

I'

(4 )

(3)

where:
Q
vertical concentrated load
r = horizontal projection of the
distance between the load Q and
the point P where the stress is
evaluated
z = depth of point P
K

is obtained by integration under

~enter

(i)

Frohlich's equation
XQ
211 z 2

The stress
~he

( 2)
(iii)

There is no known solution for an area of any

polygonal shape. This paper presents a method
conducive to an exact solution.

INTLGRATION OF THE STRESS UNDER A VERTEX OF A

UNIFORMLY LOADED TRIANGULAR AREA
(1)

(ii)

such as those proposed by H. G.

1974 who used the so called sector
method, as well as the popular chart by N. M.
Newmark (1942).

f1:2v
,j m=vT

(ii)

Westergaard's equation

{I - K[K2

Oz
(iii)

+ (R/z)

2]-1/2}

(5)

Frohlich's equation
az

{1 -

[ 1 + (R/z)

2 ]

-xlz

(6)

Poisson's ratio of the soil

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
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
uniformly loaded (Fadum) and some a~proximate
solutions are known for the case of an "rea of

qdA

Fig. 1

Circular Sector

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1/8/6
Usipg the results given in (4) 1 (5) or (6) it
is possible to obtain Oz under a vertex P of

Frohlich's equation

(iii)

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

2, we obtain

[_,[t::lnG2]
tan
----- -tan _1[tanO']l
-----

271J1+a

(9)

X'" 4, we obtain

Integrating with
height of
th8 triangle
P

Fig. 2

Triangular Area

The following solutions are obtained

(i)

(10)

Boussinesq's equation

az =

i!

If
G

1 - a

a 2 + sec 2 e

3 [

3/2

fdG

G,

The process of integration was, in general,

simple. However in the case of the Boussinesq's
equation the integration was rather complicated.

INTEGRATION FOR AN AREA OF ANY POLYGONAL SHAPE

integrating we obtain

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\

(x, ,y,)
where a is the ratio z/H and II is the
height of the triangle

(ii)

Westergaard's equation

f'

r.: ! 1 - b [b'

/
I

(xz, yz )

4 I

1//

~I/;

",e'er/'lde

-(xP,yp)

0\
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

(8 )

where b is the ratio z/H rrultiplied

by the constant K.

734

P while the triangles P45 and P51 contribute

negatively. Note that the numbering of the
vertices is counterclockwise.
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
by the pOint P and tv.'o consecutive vertices i
and i+l.

1/8/6
(i)

Boussinesq's equation

ht

W
ki

(k=l,2)

2 2
Jl + K a 3. + C~i

192i -eli-tan _I [B2i] +tan _I [Bli] +

+[B'i-B,J;[-, +

'=1

III

(k=l,2)

ki

(111

aicki
Nki

(ii)

Kaic ki

1 + a~ + C
3.
ki

(k=l,2)

Westergaard's equation
n

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

CONCLUSIONS

(12)

[Wli]l

3.=ll
Frohlich's equation

(iii)

With the proposed formulas (11), (12), (13) or

(14) will be easy to calculate the normal
stress 0z 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 0z in a HP-4ICV computer.

With X = 2
n

.-9:'" r-:;

(13)

_1_
21T'L...
i=LJl+a~3.

With X

FINAL COMMENT AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Both authors obtained the sarne 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
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:
tan

-I

Cli
_1

O2 i

tan

C li

[Xi (xi+l -xi) + Yi (Yi+, - Yi l ]

e2i
x',

C2i

[Xi+l (Xi+l - xi) + Yi+l (Y + 1

x, -

IF i
Yi l

3.
3.
P
Xi+l = x i + 1 - xp
y',
Yi - Yp
3.
Yi+1
Yi+ 1 - Yp
coordinates of point P

Frohlich, O.K. (1934). Druckverteilung in

Baugrunde. (Distribution of Pressunes
in Soils). Springer Verlag, B~rlin.

coordinates of vertex i
, Yi+ 1 = coordinates of vertex i+ 1
xi Yi+l - x.1+ 1Y ' i
IZLi /F

J (Xi+l

il

- x',) 2

3.

aiC ki
Bki

(Y +1

y', ) 2
3.
(k=l,2)

+ a~

3.

Westergaard, H. M. (1939). A Problem of

Elasticity Suggested by a Problem in
Soil Mechanics: Soft Material
Reinforced by Numerous Strong Horizontal
Sheets. Sixtieth ~niversary Volume of
S. Timoshenko, Contributions of
Mechanics of Solids, MacMillan Pub. Co.,
New York.

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.

+ C2
ki

735