[ 492 ]

BOUSSLNESQ'S PROBLEM FOR A RIGID CONE

B Y IAN N. SNEDDON
Received 17 April 1947
1. The problem of determining the distribution of stress in a semi-infinite solid
medium when its plane boundary is deformed by the pressure against it of a perfectly
rigid cone is of considerable importance in various branches of applied mechanics. It
arises in soil mechanics where the cone is the base of a conical-headed cylindrical pillar
and the semi-infinite medium is the soil upon which it rests (l). In this instance the
distribution of stress in the soil is known to be more or less similar to that calculated
on the assumption that the soil is a perfectly elastic, isotropic and homogeneous medium,
at least if the factor of safety of a mass of soil with respect to failure by plastic flow
exceeds a value of about three (2). The same problem occurs in the theory of indentation
tests in which a ductile material is indo .ted by cylindrical punches with conical
heads (3).
A complete solution of the problem would depend on the following factors:
(a) the stress-strain relationship of the medium being deformed;
(6) the velocity with which the cone penetrates the medium;
(c) the coefficient of friction between the cone and the material under it.
I t has so far proved impossible to develop the mathematical theory of plasticity to
the point where it could solve a three-dimensional problem of this type. The complete
determination of the stresses set up would involve a discussion of the wave propagation
of stress in a medium which is part elastic and part plastic, and the difficulties this
general problem presents are so great that it was only recently that the simplest
process of this type (the propagation of plastic waves in thin wires) was investigated
by Sir Geoffrey Taylor, von Karman and others (see, for example, (4)). In the static
approximation the distributions of stress at any given instant during the penetration
were computed several years ago (5) for various two-dimensional indenters, but the
progress of the deformation with increasing penetration was not followed until
recently (6), when a detailed account of the history of the motion was given in the case
of a wedge, allowance being made for the continually altering position of the surface
and for the spreading of the plastic flow.
As a first step towards the solution of the more complex three-dimensional problem
of indentation by a cone an account is given here of the distribution of stress in an
elastic medium when it is deformed by a rigid cone. The problem of the indentation of
the plane surface of a semi-infinite elastic solid by a rigid body was first considered by
Boussinesq (7), and for that reason problems of this type are usually referred to as
' Boussinesq' problems. More recently, Love (8) has treated the case where the surface
of the rigid punch is a right circular cone whose axis is normal to the indented plane.
The analysis given by Love is successful because of his skill in guessing a combination
of potentials which satisfies the boundary conditions, and it is difficult to see how the

Boussinesq's problem for a rigid cone

493
method could be extended to cover other shapes of punch. Furthermore, Love's solution
is in such a form that the actual computation of the distribution of stress in the interior
of the elastic solid would be a matter of some difficultyand was not in fact attempted
in Love's original paper. A solution of the indentation problem for a rigid punch
possessing axial symmetry but otherwise of arbitrary shape was given recently (9), and
it was shown that the method of integral transforms leads to Love's solution in a
straightforward manner without the necessity of guessing combinations of simple
potential functions to satisfy the boundary conditions. Besides being easily extended
to more complicated^problems this method has the advantage that it leads to expressions
for the components of stress which lend themselves easily to computation. In the
paper (9) the solutions for the special cases in which the free surface was indented by
a cone, a flat-ended cylindrical punch and a Brinel ball were derived, but no attempt
was made to describe fully the distribution of stress in the interior of the medium in
any of these cases. Such an account for the case of a flat-ended cylindrical punch was
given later (10).
In the present paper a detailed account is given of the distribution of stress in a
semi-infinite elastic medium with a Poisson ratio 0-25 when its boundary is indented
by a rigid right circular cone whose axis is normal to the original surface of the medium.
The value <r = 0-25 is chosen, since it agrees reasonably well with the observed value
for mild steel and also for dense soils and solid granular materials such as sandstone
at low stress, and is therefore a good average value for applications of the kind indicated
earlier. The components of stress are calculated at various points in the interior of the
elastic body, and the results of the calculations are embodied in a set of tables which
enable the stress components at any point to be obtained by interpolation. The
variation of the various components of stress in certain planes parallel to the undeformed free surface of the medium is illustrated graphically. The principal shearing
stress is tabulated in a similar fashion, and the contours of equal principal shearing
stress drawn to show graphically the distribution of stress in the neighbourhood of the
apex of the cone.
Finally, the application of these results to the normal penetration of a solid medium
by a rigid conical-headed punch of the type used in hardness tests is considered briefly.
2. We consider the distribution of stress produced in the interior of a semi-infinite
elastic medium when its plane surface is deformed by the pressure against it of a perfectly rigid cone. The cone is pressed apex downwards with its axis normal to the plane
surface of the medium in its undisturbed state. The original plane is taken to be the
coordinate plane z = 0, and its point of intersection with the axis of symmetry of the
cone is taken as the origin of coordinates. The z-axis is chosen to point downwards into
the medium, and the position of a point in the medium is uniquely represented by
cylindrical polar coordinates (r, 6, z). Because of the symmetry about the z-axis the
displacement vector assumes the form (ur, 0, uz), where ur and uz are functions of r
and z only. The stress at any point in the medium is completely specified by the stress
components <rT, cre, az, Trz; the remaining components of the stress tensor, TT6 and T^,
are zero at every point in the solid.

494

IAN N. SNEDDON

We assume that the cone penetrates a distance b + e into the medium, and that at
that depth of penetration the strained surface of the elastic medium fits the cone
over the area between the vertex of the cone and a circular section of radius a (cf.
Fig. 1). Since it is obvious on physical grounds that the normal components of stress,
<rz, at the surfaceof the medium must remain finite round the edge of the pressed area
(r = a), we derive the relation
_ eiin 1),
(1)
which fixes the value of the parameter 6, i.e. the depth below the original surface level
of the circle r = a. The boundary conditions are that on the surface 2 = 0 the normal
component of the displacement vector at the surface of the medium is prescribed by
the shape of the cone in the region r <a; outside that region this condition is replaced
by the fact that the normal component of stress vanishes across the boundary of the

Original surface of
elastic medium

Deformed surface

Fig.'l. The coordinate system.

medium. It is further assumed that the shearing stress is zero over the entire surface
z = 0. We thus have the conditions
(z = 0, r<a),

(2)

= 0,r>a))
I t has been shown (9) that the boundary conditions (3) and the equations of elastic
\
equilibrium
3^ gT

?++<frtr)0

(4)
(5)

are satisfied by the expressions

Boussinesq's problem for a rigid cone

where A and fi are Lame's elastic constants,
p = rja,

i = z\a,

1% = I

495

pnf(p)e~P^rm(pp)dp,

Jo

and/(p) is the solution of a pair of dual integral equations which depend on the surface
value of the normal component of the displacement vector. In the case of a conical
punchcorresponding to the boundary condition (2)f(p) is given by the relation

Substituting from (6) into the expressions for the components of stress, and transforming from the Lame constants to the Young's modulus, E, and the Poisson ratio, a,
we obtain the expressions

for the complete determination of the stress in the elastic solid. In these expressions
</(p, ) denotes the integral
J%{pX)= r"(1- cos p)pn-2Jm(pp)e-rt
Jo

dp.

(11)

3. We first determine the distribution of stress along the axis of symmetry r = 0,

since in this instance the expressions for the components of stress reduce to simple
forms. Putting p = 0 in equation (11) we obtain for the relevant integrals

Substituting these results into equations (7), (8) and (9) we obtain for the stress components on the axis of symmetry

Also, since J\(0, ) = 0, it follows that TCT is zero all along the axis of symmetry. Thus
crr, ag and <rz are the principal stresses at any point on this axis, and the principal
shearing stress, T, is given by \ \ <Jr crz |. Substituting from (12) and (13) we find that

496

IAN N. SNEDDON

Differentiating this expression with respect to we find that dr/d^ is negative for all
positive values of so that the principal shearing stress, T, decreases steadily as z
increases along the axis r = 0. I t is obvious from (14) that r is in fact infinite at the
origin of coordinates r = 2 = 0. Physically this means that a certain volume of material
under the apex of the cone will flow plastically and hence reduce the high concentration
of stress in that neighbourhood. The problem is in reality not a purely elastic problem
but a mixed plastic-elastic problem in which the shape of the boundary of the plastic
region is unknown. If, however, the depth of penetration of the apex of the cone is
small in comparison with the radius of the circle round which it fits the elastic medium,
plastic flow will be confined to a very small region and the stresses given accurately by
the elastic solution at all points of the medium not in the immediate vicinity of the
apex of the cone. It would also appear that the elastic solution has a wider field of
application in the case of cones of large semi-vertical angle than in the case of cones of
small semi-vertical angle.
4. In a similar way we can derive simple expressions for the components of stress
and displacement on the boundary plane z = 0. The integrals occurring in this connexion are
.
, , , ., , . ..
,.
and
(16)

Putting = 0 in equation (7) and substituting for JJ(p, 0) from equation (15), we
confirm that the normal component of stress <rz is zero when p < 1 and find that it has
the value

when p > 1. To determine the other components of stress we put = 0 in equations (8)
and (9) to obtain
a(T

*e,

(19)

where <TZ is given by (17) and J\ by equation (16).

The shearing stress TOT is zero for all values of r when z 0 as is seen from equation
(10); this is in agreement with the second of the boundary conditions (3). The three
stress components <rr, crd and crz are therefore the principal stresses at any point of the
surface z = 0.
Expressions for the non-vanishing components of the displacement vector can be
derived similarly; it is found that when 2 = 0 and p< 1 the normal component of the
displacement vector is given by equation (2), and that when p > 1 it is given by the
expression

[us{p)\=0 = e{sin-i(l/p) + V(P 2 - !)-/>}

( 2 )

Boussinesq's problem for a rigid cone

497

Similarly, when 2 = 0 the radial component of the displacement vector assumes the
values
f l a r
f
p
lV(lp))
..

H ^

l_2<r e
4(l-cr)p
From equations (20) and (21) we find that ur and uz both tend to zero in such a way that
K(P)J-o

2(1-o-)'

as r-oo; apart from the difference in sign this result is identical with that obtained in
the Boussinesq problem for a flat-ended cylinder (10).
5. The fundamental problem in determining the components of stress at a point in
the interior of the elastic medium is that of evaluating the integrals </(p, ) defined
by equation (11). Ifm + n'^2 we may write
where the first integral can be evaluated by means of the formula (11),

and the second integral defined by

f
Jo

can be evaluated by replacing in equation (23) by + i and equating real parts as

in the previous paper (12). In this way we obtain the formulae
A{p, S) = (P2 + 2 )-* - cos <PIR,
^

(24)
(25)
(26)

where the quantities r, B, 6 and (j> are defined by the relations

To determine the stress completely it only remains to evaluate JJ ana J\. For the
former we integrate both sides of the equation
1

with respect to w from to w,Joput M; = + i and then separate real parts; we then obtain
the result
B* + 2Rr cos (6-<f>) + r*
JHP0

= *lQg

(28)

498

IAN N. SNEDDON

Similarly from the result

Jo

we obtain

-1

Putting M> = +*, equating real parts and substituting from equations (25) and (28)
we obtain the relation

Jl(P, o = HpJUp, o + si(P, o - tJUp, 0],

where

S{(p, Q = P ^ ^ e^ J1(pp)dp = -(l-R

J 0

X*

sin <fi).

(29)
(30)

Equation (29) can be used to determine /J once JJ and J\ have been calculated from
equations (25) and (28).
The above formulae and equations (7)-(10) are sufficient for the computation of the
components of stress at any point in the interior of the elastic medium. The results of
these calculations for a sequence of values of p and are embodied in Tables 1-4 for
the case in which the Poisson ratio for the material of the deformed medium has the
value 0-25. The variation of the various stress components in certain planes parallel
to the original undeformed plane is shown graphically in Figs. 2-5.
Since the shearing stress, Trz, is not in general zero at any point the principal stresses
are no longer given by crr, <re and arz. The principal stresses at any point are now determined by the roots of the discriminating cubic
<r-orr
0
Trz

-
0

TZ

= 0,

0
a--a-.

so that their magnitudes are given by

<re, Wr+
Once the principal stresses at any point have been determined, the numerical value
of the maximum shearing stress across a plane through the point under consideration
may then be determined from the fact that it is equal to one-half of the algebraic
difference between the maximum and minimum components of principal stress. The
results of such a calculation for points in the neighbourhood of the apex of the cone
are given in Table 5, and the variation of the maximum shearing stress T with p and C,
is shown graphically in Fig. 6. By the aid of this diagram and Table 5 the contours of
equal maximum shearing stress were drawn (Fig. 7) by determining the points in the
medium at which the maximum shearing stress assumes the values 0-45, 0-40, 0-35,
0-30 and 0-20 (in terms ofeE/a as unit). It should, of course, be remembered that these
' contours' are in reality surfaces of equal principal shearing stress obtained by rotating
Fig. 7 about the axis of the conical punch; they are the three-dimensional analogue of

<N-"*COOO<N-*COOO

-0-3607
-0-1744
-0-0865
-0-0415
-0-0176
- 0-0042
0-0000
0-0036
0-0056
0-0098
0-0072

-0-5136
-0-2493
-0-1166
-0-0525
- 0-0207
-0-0052
0-0007
0-0057
0-0070
0-0084
0-0074

-01333
-0-1055
-0-0606
-0-0325
-0-0156
-0-0057
-0-0001
0-0030
0-0045
0-0050
0-0056

-0-0926
-0-0679
-0-0428
- 0-0252
-00139
-0-0063
-0-0014
0-0016
0-0032
0-0041
0-0045

-0-0680
- 0-0504
-0-0347
-0-0223
-00132
- 0-0068
- 0-0030
0-0001
0-0019
0-0020
0-0030

-0-0521
-0-0397
-0-0286
-0-0193
-0-0125
-00069
-0-0033
- 0-0008
0-0010
0-0021
0-0027

l-H

-0-6963
-0-3191
-0-1415
-0-0615
-0-0247
-0-0067
0-0047
0-0065
00071
0-0067
0-0049

1-4

-0-0412
-00322
-0-0237
-0-0171
-00113
-0-0074
- 0-0040
-0-0018
-0-0006
0-0010
0-0019

-0-0333
-00266
- 0-0201
-0-0154
-0-0108
-0-0073
-0-0044
- 0-0023
-0-0008
0-0004
0-0011

+ 00333
+ 0-0071
-0-0222
- 0-0293
-0-0368
-0-0392
-0-0380
-0-0350
-0-0310
-0-0268
-0-0228

+ 0-0412
+ 0-0040
- 0-0242
-0-0437
-0-0474
-0-0475
-0-0439
-0-0384
- 0-0332
-0-0273
-00227

+ 0-0521
-0-0033
-0-0406
-0-0576
-0-0602
-0-0562
-0-0489
- 0-0408
-00335
-0-0269
-0-0215

CD

i-H

-0-9652
-0-3747
-0-1604
-0-0646
-0-0269
-0-0095
0-0099
0-0069
0-0087
0-0086
00033

1-0

+ 0-0680
- 0-0202
-0-0661
-0-0780
-0-0738
-0-0633
- 0-0522
- 0-0409
-0-0322
-0-0256
-0-0189

+ 0-0926
-0-0595
-0-0996
-0-0985
-0-0846
-0-0670
-0-0513
-0-0388
-0-0288
-0-0211
-0-0155

00

00

IN

-0-3952
-0-1664
-0-0698
-00256
-0-0053
0-0038
0-0077
0-0076
0-0092
0-0087

0-8

I(

+ 0-1333
-0-1191
-0-1332
-0-1135
-0-0877
-0-0647
- 0-0463
-0-0328
-0-0228
-0-0156
-0-0106

CM

0-0

-0-1939
-0-1762
-0-1537
-0-1160
-0-0814
-00631
-0-0364
-0-0240
-0-0151
-0-0131
-00054

-0-3653
-0-2645
-0-1746
-0-1096
-00673
- 0-0404
-0-0220
-0-0129
- 0-0066
-0-0035
-0-0001

-0-5571
-0-3570
-0-1902
-0-0968
-0-0475
-0-0224
-00117
-0-0025
0-0022
0-0052
0-0067

CD

-0-8114
-0-4152
-0-1809
-0-0823
-0-0305
-00062
- 0-0063
0-0056
0-0070
0-0086
0-0047

i-H

00

i-H

1-4

CM

-0-3952
-0-1664
-0-0698
-0-0256
- 0-0053
0-0038
0-0077
0-0076
0-0092
0-0087

0-8

0-6

90

0-0

Boussinesq's problem for a rigid cone

499

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SNMICOCOOINMICOOO

080

0-0000
-0-1162
-0-1550
-0-1724
-0-1755
-0-1697
-0-1589
-0-1461
-0-1328
-0-1199
-0-1079
-0-3697
-0-3417
-0-3165
-0-2941
-0-2675
-0-2410
-0-2111
-0-1859
-01624
-0-1422
-0-1249
-0-5859
-0-5629
- 0-5059
-0-4378
-0-3723
-0-3142
-0-2651
-0-2245
-0-1913
-01640
-0-1414

CM

IO CD r- OB CO
CO eo eo IO on e
o on IN
CO IO IO >O

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1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

-1-1844
-1-1190
-0-8947
-0-6992
-0-5477
-0-4338
-0-3471
-0-2818
-0-2321
-0-19b.
-01639

00

eo Ml CO

-1-3817
-0-9880
-0-7466
-0-5761
-0-4849
-0-3846
-0-3100
-0-2539
-0-2104
-0-1769

CO

Ml

Ml eo
3
3

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1

-0-8356
-0-8050
-0-7044
-0-5822
-0-4725
-0-3835
-0-3136
-0-2587
-0-2156
-0-1816
-01553

1-0
0-8

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r^H

0-0000
- 0-0001
-0-0024
-0-0069
-0-0129
-0-0195
- 0-0252
-0-0302
-0-0339
-0-0363
-00379

CO

0-0000
-0-0006
- 0-0040
-0-0148
-0-0208
-0-0301
-0-0371
-00423
- 0-0463
-0-0474
- 0-0480

r-H

0-0000
- 0-0046
-0-0227
- 0-0446
-0-0622
-0-0736
-0-0802
-0-0817
-0-0809
-0-0792
-0-0744

00

o 00 on eo IO >o on >o r-
CN O5 CD CN IO
co CO
O o IN IN eo eo eo eo CO

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0-0000
-0-0195
-0-0581
-0-0884
-0-1066
-0-1140
-0-1145
-0-1109
-01049
-0-0981
-0-0906

SN

0-0000
-0-0015
-0-0097
-0-0226
-0-0362
-0-0468
- 0-0546
-0-0593
-0-0611
-0-0612
-00601

IAN N. SNEDDON

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Boussinesq's problem for a rigid cone

0-6

5=0

0-5

5 =0-2 \
0-4

0-3

0-2

0-1.

-0-1

Fig. 2. The variation of the radial stress <rT with p and

Fig. 3. The variation of the hoop stress <TQ with p and .

501

502

IAN N. SNEDDON

0-6

0-4

0-2

Fig. 4. The variation of the normal stress crz with p and .

Fig. 5. The variation of the shearing stress Tzr with p and .

Boussinesq's problem for a rigid cone

503
the isochromatic lines of photoelasticity. The semi-vertical angle of the cone is shown
in thisfigureto be nearly a right angle, merely to give a large value of a to show the
detail of the stress distribution under the punch. The principal shearing stress becomes
infinite at the apex of the cone, indicating that a certain amount of plastic flow will
Table 5. Variation of arjeE with p,

0-0

0-2

0-4

0-6

0-8

1-0

00

0-4932
0-3890
0-2891
0-2161
01472
0-0799
0-0490
0-0286
0-0228
00195
00173

0-4108
0-3785
0-3154
0-2563
0-1922
0-1281
0-0893
0-0520
0-0306
0-0186
0-0139

0-3384
0-3220
0-2874
0-2424
0-1976
0-1466
0-1031
0-0647
0-0464
00314
00232

0-2753
0-2676
0-2441
0-2115
0-1752
0-1382
0-1042
0-0763
0-0551
0-0399
0-0291

0-2231
0-2199
0-2027
0-1795
01519
01253
0-0993
0-0767
0-0657
0-0444
0-0338

\\

0-0
0-2
0-4
0-6
0-8
1-0
1-2
1-4
1-6
1-8
2-0

0-1865
01393
01103
0-0879
0-0667
0-0463
0-0340
00261
0-0206
0-0167

Fig. 6. The variation of the principal shearing stress 7 with p and .

occur and hence that there is in reality no purely elastic problem. In the normal way,
for low loading, the elastic stresses will predominate everywhere in the medium except
in the immediate vicinity of the apex of the cone, and the distribution of stress derived
above will approximate closely to the true result. It is also of interest to observe that

504

IAN N. SNEDDON

the contours of equal principal shearing stress are roughly of the same shape as the
isochromatic lines for a point force acting normally to the surface of a two-dimensional
elastic mediumcircles with centres on the 2-axis touching 2 = 0.

Fig. 7. The curves of intersection by the plane 9 = constant of the surfaces of equal principal
shearing stress. The numbers associated -with the curves denote the values of ar/eE along
the curves.

6. We now consider the application of these results to the normal penetration of

a solid medium by a rigid conical-headed punch of the type used in certain hardness
tests (3). In applying the analysis of the preceding sections it must always be kept in
mind that we have considered only an idealized statical problem in the theory of
elasticity, neglecting dynamical effects and the effects due to the occurrence of large
strains or of regions of plasticflowin the solid being indented.
In fact, a wave motion, complicated even in the case where there is no failure due
to plastic flow, is created, and it is obvious that the difficulties in the way of exact
calculation are enormous. An estimate of how far the relatively simple stress system
found above approximates to the actual distribution during penetration can be based
only on an exact solution of the dynamical equations. No solution of these equations
appropriate to our boundary conditions is available, but much attention has been
given to problems of a similar nature in Hertz's theory of the collision of elastic spheres.
In this connexion a paper of the late Lord Rayleigh's (13) is of some interest, for although
the problem considered in it differs from that considered here the general conclusions
give us a criterion for the reliability of the results reached by the static approximation.
It is that we are justified in using the equations of elastic equilibrium provided that the
velocity with which the cone strikes the surface of the elastic medium is small compared
with the velocity of elastic waves in the1 medium.
For similar reasons it is difficult to estimate the error due to neglecting the possibility
of regions of plasticflowexisting in the medium'. A set of equations governing a plastic
mass in its equilibrium state has been obtained by Hencky(l4) by minimizing the

Boussinesq's problem for a rigid cone

505

integral of the elastic energy density expressed in terms of the stress components which
are supposed to obey the plasticity condition of von Mises. When the variation is
carried out we find that the components of stress and strain satisfy equations analogous
to those of elastic theory except that the Young's modulus E is replaced by a function
of the coordinates. Thus, though the solution of the Hencky equations presents a
formidable problem we may make use of the concept they provide of a medium in
which the Young's modulus varies from point to point. In the parts of the medium
remote from the apex of the cone the function E has its usual constant value, Eo say,
as in the elastic theory. In the vicinity of the apex of the cone E will have a modified
value E' varying from point to point. As a first approximation we might suppose that
E' is constant but different from Eo in a certain region of the medium, i.e. we might
postulate the existence of a region R such that
(E'
E(P) denoting the value of the Young's modulus of the material at the point P of the
medium being deformed. Estimates of the value of E' and of the extent of R might be
derived from the analysis of experimental results. For example, in the photographs
of the experiments performed with wedges by Dr J. F. Allen and Mr J. M. Speight (6)
the extent of the region of plastic flow can be clearly seen, and hence an estimate of the
shape of the curve bounding R can be obtained. The modified value E' of the Young's
modulus must be chosen to fit the experimental results. Calculations based on a
simple model of this type are facilitated by the fact that the tables above give the
values of (Tr/2?, etc., so that changes in the values of the Young's modulus are easily
incorporated in the calculations.
The results are strictly valid only for small strains, but the difficulties of taking into
account large strains are very great, and it is well known that calculations made on the
basis of small strains often give useful results when applied outside their proper range
of validity.

With these reservations in mind we now consider the total work done in pushing
a conical-headed punch of radius a0 and semi-vertical angle a into a semi-infinite
medium which we assume to behave elastically and to possess a modified Young's
modulus determined experimentally. This work is done in two parts, that done in the
penetration to the edge of the conical head and that done in pushing the conical head
down until part of the cylindrical surface of the punch is embedded in the medium.
From equation (3-1-13) of the paper (9) we have for the total pressure on the pressed
area when w < w0 = \naQ cot a

Jr =

2 E tan a

W .

When the depth of penetration w exceeds w0 it is easily shown from equation (3-2-5)
of (9) that the resultant excess pressure on the pressed area is given by

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33

506

IAN N. SNEDDON

Thus we have for the total pressure

(2Eta.noc w
j-, 2T

* or

^ hnao co ^ a>
, cot a.

For the work done in making a penetration w we have

w3
so that

Pdw,
Jo
for w^^7ra0cota,

W =
" w 2 w(w ^7ra0 cot a)

w/o 0

for

w>^7ra 0 cota.

*-

Fig. 8. Variation of the total load P with depth of penetration w and cone angle. The numbers
associated with the curves are the values of the semi-vertical angle a of the conical head
(cf. inset).

Curves illustrating the variation of the total load P with the depth of penetration w
for various values of the semi-vertical angle of the cone are shown in Fig. 8. A comparison of these curves with the experimental curves derived by Bishop, Hill and
Mott (3) shows that the above formula for the total load P gives the correct form for
the variation of P up to penetrations of the order 2a0 cot a, even when the strains are
no longer small and a certain amount of plasticflowis occurring. For larger values of
the penetration the experimental results show that the P-w curve becomes increasingly
flatter until it is almost parallel to the w-axis, but the elastic theory developed above
does not account for this phenomenon. We might then expect that the distribution of
stress described in 5 will give a reasonably accurate picture of the state of stress in

Boussinesq's problem for a rigid cone-

507

the solid for values of the penetration lying in the range indicated above and for
velocities of penetration small compared with the velocity of elastic waves in the
medium.
REFERENCES
(1) KRYNTNE, D. F. Soil mechanics (New York, 1941), Chap. rv.
(2) TERZAGHI, K. Theoretical soil mechanics (New York, 1943), p. 367.
(3) BISHOP, R. F., HELL, R. and MOTT, N. F. Proc. Phys. Soc. 57 (1945), 147.

(4) v. RAHMAN, TH. and DUWEZ, P. Comptes rendus du 6" congres de mecan. appl. (in course of
publication).
(5) PRANDTL, L. Z. angew. Math. Mech. 3 (1923), 6, 401.
(6) HILL, R., LEE, E. H. and TUPPER, S. J. Proc. Roy. Soc. A, 188 (1947), 273.
(7) BOUSSESTBSQ, J. Applications des potentiels (Paris, 1885).

(8) LOVE, A. E. H. Quart. J. Math. 10 (1939), 161.

(9) HARDING, J. W. and SNEDDON, I. N. Proc. Cambridge Phil. Soc. 41 (1945), 16.
(10) SNEDDON, I. N. Proc. Cambridge Phil. Soc. 42 (1946), 29.
(11) WATSON, G. N. The theory of Bessel functions (2nd ed., Cambridge, 1944).
(12) SNEDDON, I. N. Proc. Roy. Soc. A, 187 (1946), 229.
(13) RAYLEIGH, LORD. Phil. Mag. (6), 11 (1906), 283.
(14) HENCKY, H. Z. angew. Math. Mech. 4 (1924), 323.
For further references see
NADAI, A. Handbuch der Physik, 6, p. 470.

THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY

THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW

33-2