272  Chapter 6: Vertical Stress Increase in Soil

6.6 Stress below a Rectangular Area

The integration technique of Boussinesq’s equation also allows the vertical stress at
any point A below the corner of a flexible rectangular loaded area to be evaluated. (See
Figure 6.5.) To do so, consider an elementary area dA 5 dx dy on the flexible loaded area.
If the load per unit area is qo , the total load on the elemental area is
dP 5 qo dx dy (6.8)
This elemental load, dP, may be treated as a point load. The increase in vertical stress at
point A caused by dP may be evaluated by using Eq. (6.1). Note, however, the need to
substitute dP 5 qo dx dy for P and x2 1 y2 for r2 in that equation. Thus,
3qo sdx dydz3
The stress increase at A caused by dP 5
2psx2 1 y2 1 z2d5y2
The total stress increase Ds caused by the entire loaded area at point A may now be
obtained by integrating the preceding equation:

L B 3qo sdx dydz3

Ds 5 # #
y50 x50 2psx
2
1 y2 1 z2d5y2
5 qoI (6.9)

Here,

1
1 2mnÏm2 1 n2 1 1 m2 1 n2 1 2
I 5 influence factor 5 ?
4p m2 1 n2 1 m2n2 1 1 m2 1 n2 1 1

2
2mnÏm2 1 n2 1 1
1 tan21 (6.10)
m2 1 n2 1 1 2 m2n2

qo

dx B
dy

y
L

z
Figure 6.5  Determination of vertical
stress below the corner of a flexible
A rectangular loaded area

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 6.6  Stress below a Rectangular Area  273

where
B
m 5 (6.11)
z
and
L
n 5 (6.12)
z
The arctangent term in Eq. (6.10) must be a positive angle in radians. When
m2 1 n2 1 1 , m2n2, it becomes a negative angle. So a term p should be added to that angle.
The variations of the influence values with m and n are given in Table 6.4.
The stress increase at any point below a rectangular loaded area can also be found by
using Eq. (6.9) in conjunction with Figure 6.6. To determine the stress at a depth z below
point O, divide the loaded area into four rectangles, with O the corner common to each. Then
use Eq. (6.9) to calculate the increase in stress at a depth z below O caused by each rectangu-
lar area. The total stress increase caused by the entire loaded area may now be expressed as

Ds 5 qo sI1 1 I2 1 I3 1 I4d (6.13)

where I1 , I2 , I3 , and I4 5 the influence values of rectangles 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively.
In most cases, the vertical stress below the center of a rectangular area is of impor-
tance. This can be given by the relationship
Ds 5 qoIc (6.14)

where

3
2 m1n1 1 1 m21 1 2n21
Ic 5
p Ï1 1 m21 1 n21 s1 1 n21d sm21 1 n21d

4(6.15)
m1
1 sin21
Ïm21 1 n21Ï1 1 n21
L
m1 5  (6.16)
B
z
n1 5  (6.17)
12
B
2
The variation of Ic with m1 and n1 is given in Table 6.5.

B(1) 1 3

B(2) 2 4

Figure 6.6  Stress below any point of

L(1) L(2)
a loaded flexible rectangular area

Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.