A numerical model for settlement analysis of circular plates on multilayered soil

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical model for calculating settlements and contact stresses of a circular plate resting on an elastic subgrade. The method is an extension of the elastic continuum method developed by Poulos and Davis for piles. Soil settlements are calculated with Mindlin’s equations. Plate settlements are calculated through a finite difference approximation of Kirchhoff’s equations for thin plate bending. The method, originally devised for homogenous soils, has been extended for multilayered soils using the Steinbrenner approximation. Model validation was performed by comparing results with a finite element solution and with previously published methods. The results prove that the method provides a very good approximation for homogenous soils and also for multilayered soils in which soil stiffness increases with depth, while for layered soils with stiffness decreasing with depth the Steinbrenner approximation was found not to be sufficiently accurate. Compared to alternative numerical methods, such as those using variational calculus, the proposed method has the advantage of its greater simplicity.