| Abstract: | A numerical technique is presented for the analysis of surface displacements of a non-homogeneous elastic half-space subjected to vertical and/or horizontal surface loads uniformly distributed over an arbitrarily shaped area. The non-homogeneity considered is a particular form of power variation of Young's modulus with depth. Since the exponent which determines the degree of non-homogeneity may vary from zero to unity, both the homogeneous half-space and the Gibson soil may be included as limiting cases in a single numerical scheme. In order to account for the arbitrary shape of the loading, the boundary of the loaded area is linearized piecemeal. This enables the modeling of any load pattern according to the desired degree of accuracy. Special attention is focused on the integration scheme, since the singularity associated with the Green's function becomes progressively more pronounced the greater the non-homogeneity parameter gets. The performance of the numerical procedure is studied using analytical solutions for rectangular shaped areas. Further comparisons with well-known solutions based on integral transform techniques for a uniformly distributed load acting on a circular area of the non-homogeneous soil mass show excellent agreement as well. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
