Stresses In Soil From

Surface Loads
Introduction
 The distribution of surface stresses within a soil is
determined by assuming that the soil is a semi-
infinite, homogeneous, linear, isotropic, elastic
material.
 A semi-infinite mass is bounded on one side and
extends infinitely in all other directions; this is also
called an “elastic half space.”
 For soils, the horizontal surface is the bounding side.
 Equations and charts for several types of surface
loads based on the above assumptions are
presented.
Point Load
…Point Load

 Boussinesq (1885) presented a solution for the

distribution of stresses for a point load applied on
the soil surface.
 An example of a point load is the vertical load
transferred to the soil from an electric power line
pole.
 The increases in stresses on a soil element located at
point A due to a point load, Q, are
…Point Load
5/ 2
3Q  1 

 z 
2 z 2  1  (r / z ) 2 


Q  3r 2
z 1  2 
 r    
2  ( r 2  z 2 ) 5 / 2 r 2  z 2  z ( r 2  z 2 )1 / 2 
 

Q  z 1 
   (1  2 ) 2  2 2 
2 1/ 2 
2  (r  z )
2 3/ 2
r  z  z (r  z ) 
2

3Q  rz 2 
 rz   2 
2  (r  z ) 
2 5 / 2
…Point Load

 Most often, the increase in vertical stress is needed

in practice. Equation can be written as
Q
z  I
z2
 where I is an influence factor, and

5/ 2
3  1 
I   
2  1  (r / z ) 2 
 
Line Load
…Line Load

2Q z 3
 z 
 (x 2  z 2 )2

2Q x 2 z
 x 
 (x 2  z 2 )2

2Qx z 2
 zx 
 (x 2  z 2 )2
Line Load Near a Buried Earth
Retaining Structure
 The increase in lateral stress on a buried earth
retaining structure due to a line load of intensity Q
(force/length) is
4Qa 2 b
 x 
H 0 (a 2  b 2 ) 2
 The increase in lateral force is
2Q
Px 
 (a 2  1)
Strip Load
…Strip Load

 A strip load is the load transmitted by a structure of

finite width and infinite length on a soil surface.
 Two types of strip loads are common in geotechnical
engineering.
 The increases in stresses due to a surface stress qs
(force/area) are as follows:
…Strip Load

Area transmitting a uniform stress

qs
 z    sin  cos(  2 )

qs
 x    sin  cos(  2 )

qs
 zx  sin  sin(  2 )

…Strip Load

Area transmitting triangular stress (b)

qs  x 
 z     12 sin 2 
 B 

q s  x z R12 1 
 x     ln 2  2 sin 2 
 B B R2 

qs  2 
 zx  1  cos 2  2  
  B 
…Strip Load

Area transmitting triangular stress (c,d)

2q s
 x  (   sin  cos 2 )

 The lateral force and its location were derived by
Jarquio (1981) and are
qs H 02 ( 2  1 )  ( R1  R2 )  57.3BH 0
Px  H 0 ( 2  1 ) z
2 H 0 ( 2  1 )
90

 where
 a  aB
1  tan 1  ,  2  tan 1  ,
 H0   H0 
R1  (a  B ) 2 (90   2 ), and R2  a 2 (90  1 )
Uniformly Loaded Circular Area

 An example of circular area that transmits stresses to

a soil mass in a circular foundation of an oil or water
tank. The increase of vertical and radial stresses
under a circular area of radius r0 are
  
3/ 2 
1
 z  q s 1      qs I c
  1  (r0 z ) 2 
 
 
 Where Ic is an influence factor
  
3/ 2 
  1  
Ic  1
  1  (r0 z ) 2 
 
 
…Uniformly Loaded Circular Area

 And
q  2(1   ) 1 
 r     s (1  2 )   
2 
 
1  ( r0 z ) 
2 1/ 2
1  (r0 z ) 2 
3/ 2



 The vertical elastic settlement at the surface of due

to a circular flexible loaded area is
2
 Below center of loaded area: q D (1   )
z  s
  2 E
 Below edge: z  s 2 q D (1 )
 E

 Where D = 2ro is the diameter of the loaded area.

Uniformly Loaded Rectangular Area

 Many structural foundations are rectangular or

approximately rectangular in shape. The increase in
stresses below the corner of a rectangular area of
width B and length L are
q  1 LB LBz  1 1 
 z  s  tan    2 
2 zR R  2
 3 3  R1 R2 

qs  1 LB LBz 
 x   tan  
2  zR 3
2
R1 R3 

q  1 LB LBz 
 y  s  tan  2 
2  zR 3 R2 R3 
…Uniformly Loaded Rectangular
Area
q B z2B 
 zx  s   2 
2  R2 R1 R3 

where R1  ( L2  z 2 )1 2 , R2  ( B 2  z 2 )1 2 , and R3  ( L2  B 2  z 2 )1 2

 These equations can be written as

 z  q s I z  x  q s I x

 y  q s I y  zx  q s I 
…Uniformly Loaded Rectangular
Area
 Where I denotes the influence factor.
 The influence factor for the vertical stress is:
  
1  2mn m 2  n 2  1  m 2  n 2  2  2 2
1  2mn m  n  1  
Iz     tan
4  m  n  m n  1  m  n  1 
2 2 2 2 2 2  m 2  n 2  m 2 n 2  1 
  

 where m=B/z and n=L/z.

…Uniformly Loaded Rectangular
Area
 The vertical elastic settlement at the ground surface
under a rectangular surface load is
q s B (1   2 )
z  Is
E
 where Is is a settlement influence factor that is a
function of the L/B ratio
 The equations for Is are
 At center of a rectangle (Giroud, 1968):
 1  1   s2 
2 2 
Is  ln( s  1   s   s ln
 s 
 
…Uniformly Loaded Rectangular
Area
 At corner of a rectangle (Giroud, 1968):
 1  1   2 
1 s 
Is  ln( s  1   s2   s ln
 s 
 

 Where ξs=L/B
 The above equations can be simplified to the
following for ξ s >=1.
 At center of a rectangle: I s  0.62 ln( s )  1.12

 At corner of a rectangle: I s  0.31ln( s )  0.56

Approximate Method for Rectangular
Loads
…Approximate Method for Rectangular
Loads
 In preliminary analyses of vertical stress increases
under the center of rectangular loads, geotechnical
engineers often use an approximate method
(sometimes called the 2:1 method).
 The surface load on an area, BxL , is dispersed at a
depth z over an area (B+z)x(L+z).
 The vertical load increase under the center of the
rectangle is
q s BL
 z 
( B  z )( L  z )
Vertical Stress Below Arbitrarily
Shaped Area
Vertical Stress Below Arbitrarily
Shaped Area
 Newmark (1942) developed a chart to determine the
increase in vertical stress due to a uniformly loaded
area of any shape.
 The area of each segment represents an equal
proportion of the applied surface stress at depth z
below the surface.
 If there are 10 concentric circles (only 9 are shown
because the 10th extends to infinity) and 20 radial
lines, the stress on each circle is qs/10 and on each
segment is qs/(10*20).
Vertical Stress Below Arbitrarily
Shaped Area
 The radius to depth ratio of the first (inner) circle is
found by setting,
  1  
32

0.1q s  q s 1   2 

 1  (r0 z )  
 From which r/z = 0.27. For the other circles,
substitute the appropriate value for ∆σz;
 Every chart should show a scale.
Vertical Stress Below Arbitrarily
Shaped Area
The procedure for using Newmark’s chart is as
follows
 Set the scale, shown on the chart, equal to the depth
at which the increase in vertical stress is required.
We will call this the depth scale.
 Identify the point on the loaded area below which
the stress is required. Let us say this point is point A.
 Plot the loaded area using the depth scale with point
A at the center of the chart.
Vertical Stress Below Arbitrarily
Shaped Area
 Count the number of segments (Ns) covered by the
scaled loaded area. If certain segments are not fully
covered, you can estimate what fraction is covered.
 Calculate the increase in vertical stress as

 z  q s I N N s .