Stress distribution through soil

When a footing is loaded, a certain stress will be applied on the soil immediately below the footing.
The applied stress on the soil will decrease away from the footing location as the stress is distributed
over a larger area. Consider a small soil element as shown below and the stresses applied on the
element under plain strain condition.

ZZ

ZX
XZ
XX

Figure Stress on a soil element under a strip footing.

Due to the stress applied on the soil from the foundation, the increase in the normal and the shear
stress in the soil mass under the foundation may lead to failure or cause deformation of the soil
causing settlement of the foundation. Therefore, it is very important to study the stress distribution
under a loaded area.
Even though the soil is neither elastic nor homogeneous, most of the stress distributions are obtained
assuming linear elastic and homogeneous soil medium below the foundation. Under the working
loads, the soil is stress well below the ultimate stress, as a factor of safety of about 3 against ultimate
stress in generally used. Therefore, under the working conditions, the assumption of linear elastic
behaviour may be somewhat accurate.
The most important stress component in the design of foundation is the vertical stress and hence the
distribution of vertical stress with depth is considered here.

Vertical stress distribution in homogeneous isotropic soil medium

Approximate stress distribution
It is assumed that the stress within the soil mass is distributed under the footing so that a larger area is
involved in carrying the applied load with the depth and the boundary of the area involved in carrying
the applied load is linearly varying with the depth as shown in the following Figure.

= F/(BL)

L + 2Z

B + 2Z

As the concentrated force applied on the foundation is resisted by the soil pressure developed over a
(L + 2Z) x (B + 2Z) the stress developed at a depth Z, Z is given by the following relationship.

F
( B 2Z )( L 2Z )

Generally, is taken as 0.5 with the tan = 0.5/1, = 26.5o

Boussinesq (1883) solved the problem of stress inside a semi-infinite mass due to a point load acting
on the surface.

Q
X
y
x
Y

The stress at point (x, y, z) due to a point load, Q, acting on the ground surface at the originate of a
rectangular coordinate system is given by Boussinesq as given by the following equations:

3Qz 2
2R 2

3Q x 2 z 1 2

2 R 5
3

2R z x 2 z
1

3
2
R 3
R( R z ) R ( R z )

[2]

2R z x 2 z
3Q y 2 z 1 2
1

2 R 5
3 R( R z ) R 3 ( R z ) 2 R 3

[3]

xy

3Q xyz 1 2 2 R z xy

2 R 5
3 R 3 (R z) 2

[4]

[1]

Where

R x2 y2 z 2
The practical application of the above equations is a difficult task. Therefore, other charts and Tables
are prepared to estimate of the stress increased due to a loaded area.
Considering a circular loaded area with radius r is loaded with a surface stress of qo, the stress
variation along the vertical axis through the centre may be estimated using the Equation proposed by
Boussinesq for the vertical stress due to a concentrated surface load, as shown in the following Figure.

dq = qo dA
r

The loaded area is considered with small areas dA and the vertical stress at point D due to the
concentrated force qodA acting over the small area. Integrating the stress due to force acting over
small areas, the vertical stress increment is estimated, as given below as Equation [5].

1
qo 1.0

1 (r / z ) 2

[5]

Newmarks Charts

The Boussinesq Equation for the vertical stress given in Equation [5] is re-arranged to develop the
Newmarks charts. The Equation [5] is rearranged to give Equation [6].

q
r
1 v
z
qo

2
3

[6]

As the stress ratio (qv/qo) varies from 0.1 to 0.9, the ratio (r/z) varies as given in the following table.
qv/qo

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

0.90

1.00

r/z

0.0

0.270

0.400

0.518

0.637

0.766

0.918

1.110

1.387

1.908

Concentric circles of radius 0.27, 0.40 1.908 are drawn and divided into 20 equal divisions by
drawing radial lines as shown in the following Figure. As the stress increment between any two
adjacent circles is 0.1, one small element is 0.1/20 = 0.005, which is called the influence value.

The use of the chart is explained using the following example.

Example
Estimate the stress at a depth of 5m below the center of the rectangular loaded area shown below. The
rectangular area is loaded with a distributed load of 200 kPa.

Prepare the plan of the building so that the length AB given on the Newmarks chart is equal to the
depth 5m. Therefore, the scale is AB = 5m. The plan of the building to the estimated scale is drawn on
a tracing paper. Then the plan view of the building (drawn on the tracing paper) is placed on the
Newmarks chart so that the centre of the rectangle coincides with the centre of the Newmarks chart.
Count the number of units (M) covered by the plan view of the foundation, the stress increment at 5m
below the ground surface may be estimated by:

q qo MI .
Where,

q - Increased intensity of soil pressure due to foundation loading at depth 5m,

M Number of units covered by the plan view of the rectangle drawn to the scale mentioned above.
I Influence factor based on the chart used (I = 0.005 for the chart given below)

Stress Isobars
Isobars of the vertical stress under footings are developed based on the Boussinesq equations given as
Equations [1] to [4]. Pressure isobars, developed to estimate the vertical stress under a square and a
strip footing, is given below.

Figure Pressure Isobars based on the Boussinesq equation for square and strip footings.
Newmark developed the Equation [7] to estimate the pressure under a corner of a square footing
loaded with a pressure of qo.

qv qo

Where

1
4

2MN V V 1

1 2 MN V

tan

V V1 V
V V1

[7]

B
z

L
z

V M 2 N 2 1

V1 MN

Equation [7] may be sexpressed in terms of a stress influence factor I as given by Equation [10]

qv qo I
The values of stress influence factor I in terms of M and N are given in Tabular format.
Table Stress influence factors beneath a corner of a rectangular loaded area; M=B/z; N=L/z, M and
N a interchabgable

Any internal point within a loaded area may be considered by dividing the loaded area into rectangles
with the point under consideration is a common corner and using the method of superposition to add
the stress caused by each rectangular area.
Example
A 12mx 16m rectangular raft foundation, shown below, is used to support a square water tower.
Estimate the soil pressure at 5m below the foundation level at points A, B, and C using the
Newmarks charts.
16 m

A
12 m
A

B
4m

2m

Stress distribution through layered mediums

Most natural soil deposits consist of layers of different properties. If the difference in the stiffness is
not very high, the methods described above may be used to estimate the stress distribution through
such mediums. However, if the stiffness between layers differ significantly, the above distribution
methods developed for homogeneous mediums are not applicable. Therefore, different researchers
have developed methods to estimate the stress distribution through layered soil mediums.
Distribution of vertical stress through a two layer system
Burmister (1958) developed the chart given below to estimate the vertical stress distribution through a
two layer medium. The chart is developed to estimate the vertical stress below the centre line of a
circular loaded area and the thickness of the Layer I is assumed to be equal to the radius of the
circular loaded area, as shown in the following Figure. The stiffness ratio between the two layers is
the governing factor in determining the stress distribution among layers. It is clearly seen from the
charts that as the ratio E1/E2 increases, the load taken by the layer 1 becomes higher. When the
stiffness ratio E1/E2 decreases, the vertical stress distribution reaches to that given by the Boussinesq
equations.

The stress distribution given by the chart for the two layer system is of particular importance in
foundation engineering, where shallow foundations are constructed in hard stiff filled layers, which
overlies soft compressible layers. In such situations, it is seen from the chart below that the stress
applied on the bottom layer significantly reduced if the stiffness ratio is high. Another branch of civil
engineering, where frequently layered mediums are encountered, is highway engineering. The road
subgrade and the pavement are of significantly different stiffness and hence, the assumption of
homogeneous medium is not applicable.

2b

1 = 0.5

h1 = b

E1

2 = 0.5

h2 =

E2

Figure Subsurface condition assumed by Burmister.

E1= Elastic modulus of layer I

E2= Elastic modulus of layer II

Figure Vertical stress distribution through a two layer system with the top layer thickness equal to
the radius of the loaded area.
Osterburg method
The influence diagram for the vertical stress at any depth Z directly beneath the vertical edge of the
semi-embankment can be estimated by using the chart proposed by Osterberg (1957). The chart
proposed by Osterburg is shown below.

Figure Osterburg chart to estimate the vertical stress distribution under embankment loading

Example
Estimate the vertical stress increment at points A & B due to the weight of the embankment
as given below. The unit weight of the embankment material is 20 kN/m3.

10m

6m

1
1.5

6m

10m

B
5m