International Conference on Civil Engineering

Architecture & Urban Sustainable Development

18 &19 December 2013, Tabriz , Iran

Comparison between analytical and numerical

methods of vertical stress analysis in the soil

Reza Heidari *

Structure branch lecturer , Sama technical and vocatinal training college , Islamic Azad
University , Karaj Branch , Karaj , Iran , e-mail address : rhrh1920@hotmail.com

Abstract
There are variety methods for problems solution in civil engineering . the famous
methods are the analytical solution, numerical analysis, experimental results. the
problems division in to two groups in geotechnical engineering , plane strain and
axisymmetry . in this article I use the analytical and numerical methods for analysis of
the vertical stress increase in soil under the variety loading conditions . then
comparison the results of numerical analysis and anlytical solution for several cases.
The main advantage of numerical analysis is the ability of perform comprehensive
study on the model and get the information about stresses , strains , settlements and
vertical and horizontal displacements in all points of numerical model . we can use the
finite element or finite difference method for numerical analysis but finite element
supple but needy the much time . in this article I usage the general finite element
software ANSYS for 2d analysis and geotechnical finite element software
3DFOUNDATION for 3d analysis. this investigation indicates that the
axisymmetry numerical model is more sensetive to mesh size . but the plane
strain numerical model is not dependent to mesh size so . also there is a good
agreement in all of cases between the analytical solution and numerical analysis
unless case 2 that the finite element results lesser than analytical solution . we can use
the finer mesh in this case for get the better results.

Key words: analytical , numerical , experimental , plane strain , axisymmetry , finite element.
 International Conference on Civil Engineering
Architecture & Urban Sustainable Development
18 &19 December 2013, Tabriz , Iran

1. Introduction
There are variety methods for solution of problems in civil engineering . three famous
methods that we can use are the analytical solution , numerical analysis and experimental
results. we use the analytical solution for simple engineering problems. But the numerical
analysis is usual method for the analysis of variety problems. we can use the finite element or
finite difference method or both of them for numerical analysis of the problems with the
special loading conditions , the complex and acrostic boundaries and the situations that there
is no closed form solution for the problems. so we able to solution the problems rapidly and
with the adequate precision with this method. Finite element is the supple method but needy
the much time. Experimental method is reliable but may be dangerous and expensive .in this
article , I intensive on the usage finite element method for stress analysis of the soil under the
variety loading conditions and comparision results with the analytical solution. I use ANSYS
finite element general software for this investigation in 2d situation and 3DFOUNDATION
finite element geotechnical software in 3d situation because this software is specially for
analysis of geotechnical engineering . I assume the soil is an elastic material with
E=10000000 kpa and ν=0.3. this assumption is suitable for analysis of stresses and
settlements because no need to investigate the failure condition . I investigate five cases
situation in this article ( point loading , line loading , infinite strip uniform loading , uniform
circular loading , regtangular loading as the 3d perfect analysis).

2.Stress analysis in geotechnical engineering

There are two conditions of stresses and strains that are common in geotechnical engineering .
one is the plane strain condition in which the strain in one direction is zero. Retaining walls ,
line loading on ground surface , infinite strip loading on ground surface are the famous plane
strain condition . the other condition that occurs in practical problems is axial symmetry or
axisymmetric condition where two stresses are equal. point loading on ground surface,
uniform circular loading on groundsurface are the famous axisymmetric condition. in this
article I discussion about the effective ingredient on numerical analysis for the plane strain
and axisymmetric condition .

3.Effective ingredient on numerical analysis

There are many Effective ingredient on numerical analysis. The most important ingredient are
listed below :
1- the element type that we use for the numerical analysis.
2- the element size or the mesh generation procedure and element shape that we use for the
numerical analysis for axisymmetry condition.
3- the boundary conditions .
At first we discussion about the above instances and then investigate them for the various
types of loading conditions (various cases ).
 International Conference on Civil Engineering
Architecture & Urban Sustainable Development
18 &19 December 2013, Tabriz , Iran

3.1 the element type

If we use the ANSYS general finite element software for the numerical analysis , we can use
two element for 2d analysis , plane 42 and plane 82. Plane 82 has the better accuracy so the
results are better but more time need to perform calculation. We can use this element for the
analysis of plane strain/stress and axisymmetry conditions . plane42 is a quadrilateral element
with 4 nodes but plane 82 is a quadrilateral element with 8 nodes and so has the better
accuracy . I use plane 82 for 2d analysis in this article in all of the situations. For 3d analysis i
use the 15 nodes volume triangular element.

3.2 the element size and element shape

One of the important ingredient in numerical analysis is the element size . for axisymmetry
condition the element size is the basic factor but this factor is no effect for plane strain
condition so . ( comparison the results of analytical solution and numerical analysis indicates
this point) . the element size should be small for the areas near the loading situation than the
other areas because the stresses and displacements are large near the loading location and we
need the adequate accuracy . in this article the ratio of the smallest meshing size to the largest
meshing size is equal to 0.1 . ( this assumption contained the best results for axisymmetry
condition ) . But the plain strain condition is not sensitive into the mesh size so. the other
important factor in numerical anlysis is the element shape . ( 8 nodes quadrilateral element is
used for trade the better results in all of cases).

3. 3 the boundary conditions

The boundary conditions plays an important role for the numerical analysis . in this article the
boundary extends about 10B beyond the loading location ( B is the width of loading) . I offer
that the boundary extends about even to 100B specially for 3d model.

4.vertical stress increase under loading

4.1 Case1: vertical stress increase under point loading
In case1I investigate about the vertical stress increase under point loading
(axisymmetry condition) . there is closed form solution for this case . basic equation
for this case is as follow:
3P Z3
 Z 
2 ( X 2  Y 2  Z 2 ) 2.5
That P is the point loading value (KN) on ground surface (equal to 10 KN in this article) and
x,y , z are the coordinates of the point that we want to find the vertical stress increase. for x
&y=0 , the equation is simplify as follow:
3P
 Z 
2Z 2
the results is shown in figure2 for the analytical solution and the numerical analysis.
 International Conference on Civil Engineering
Architecture & Urban Sustainable Development
18 &19 December 2013, Tabriz , Iran

Figure 1 :Finite element model for case 1 (ANSYS software)

Figure 2 : Comparison between analytical solution and numerical analysis for case 1

4.2 Case 2: vertical stress increase under line loading

In case2 I investigate of about vertical stress increase under line loading (plane
strain condition) . there is closed form solution for this case . basic equation for this
case is as follow:
2q Z3
 Z 
 ( X 2  Z 2 )2
That q is the line loading value (KN/m) on ground surface (equal to 10 KN /m in this article)
and x , z are the coordinates of the point that we want to find the vertical stress increase . for x
= 0 , the equation is simplify as follow:
2q
 Z 
Z
the results is shown in figure 4 for the analytical solution and the numerical analysis.
 International Conference on Civil Engineering
Architecture & Urban Sustainable Development
18 &19 December 2013, Tabriz , Iran

Figure 3 :Finite element model for case 2 (ANSYS software)

Figure 4 : Comparison between analytical solution and numerical analysis for case 2

4.3 Case 3: vertical stress increase under circular loading

In case 3 I investigate of about vertical stress increase under circular loading (axisymmetry
condition ) . there is the closed form solution for this case . basic equation for this case is as
follow :
 
 
 1 
 Z  q 1  1.5 
 ( R ) 2  1 
  Z  

That q is the circular loading value (KN/m2) on ground surface (equal to 10KN /m2
in this article) and R is radius of loading area. the results is shown in figure 6 for the
analytical solution and the numerical analysis.
 International Conference on Civil Engineering
Architecture & Urban Sustainable Development
18 &19 December 2013, Tabriz , Iran

Figure 5 :Finite element model for case 3 (ANSYS software)

Figure 6 : Comparison between analytical solution and numerical analysis for case 3

4.4 Case 4: vertical stress increase under infinite uniform strip loading
In case4 I investigate of about vertical stress increase under infinite uniform strip
loading (plane strain condition ) there is the graphic solution for this case that I use
its in this article . the results is shown in figure 7 for the analytical solution and the
numerical analysis. q is equal to 10 (KN/m2) .

Figure 7 : Comparison between analytical solution and numerical analysis for case 4
 International Conference on Civil Engineering
Architecture & Urban Sustainable Development
18 &19 December 2013, Tabriz , Iran

4.5 Case 5: vertical stress increase under regtangular loading (3d analysis)
In case 5 I investigate of about vertical stress increase under circular loading (3d analysis ).
basic equation for this case is as follow :
 Z  q( I1  I 2  I 3  I 4 )
That I is influence factor for one quarter of model that depend on the m and n values . we find these
parameters from the follow term :
m=B/Z
n=L/Z
That L and B are the length and the width of foundation for one quarter of the
whole foundation . B is equal to 1m and L is equal to 2m in this article . the results
is shown in figure 9. The q is equal to 10 (KN/m2) . the results are the same for
numerical and anlytical solutions. (for example in depth of 8 m the σyy=0.56 kpa for
both analytical and numerical analysis).

Figure 8 :Finite element model for case 5 (3DFOUNDATION software)

Figure 9 :Vertical total stress distribution (3DFOUNDATION software)

Cosclusion
in this article I usage the finite element method for vertical stress analysis in the soil under
the variety loading conditions and comparison the results with the analytical solution . the
results indicates that the axisymmetry problems is sensitive to mesh size but plane strain
problems is no so. thus we use the finer mesh near the loading location for axisymmetry
numerical model . we can use the general finite element software ANSYS for 2d and 3d
analysis but 3DFOUNDATION is more prevalent for 3d numerical analysis of
geotechnical problems . the results shown that there is a good agreement between the
analytical solution and numerical analysis in all of cases unless the case line loading .so we
can use the finer mesh in this case for get the better results.
 International Conference on Civil Engineering
Architecture & Urban Sustainable Development
18 &19 December 2013, Tabriz , Iran

References
[1] Sam Helwany . Applied soil mechanics with abaqus applications.

[2] Plaxis 3d Foundation geotechnical finite element software manual.

[3] Ansys general finite element software manual.
[4] Das Braja M . Principles of geotechnical engineering , PartI : soil mechanics.
[5] Bowles J.E . Foundation engineering , Fifth edition .