Cone models for nearly incompressible soil

Abstract

AbstractCones can be used to model soil in a unified strength‐of‐materials approach. For the vertical and rocking motions involving predominantly compressional‐extensional deformation, the corresponding dilatational wave velocity tends to infinity for Poisson's ratio approaching 1/2. Based on the rigorous solution for the dynamic stiffness of a rigid disk for all frequencies, whereby the partition of the power among P‐, S‐ and Rayleigh waves is also discussed, two special features are necessary for the vertical and rocking motions for nearly incompressible soil with Poisson's ratio between 1/3 and 1/2: (1) The appropriate wave velocity is selected as twice the shear wave velocity and not as the dilatational wave velocity; (2) A trapped mass which increases linearly with Poisson's ratio is introduced. The trapped mass can be assigned to the base mat, allowing the cone model to be constructed in the same way for all Poisson's ratios. The realization of cone models for surface foundations on a homogeneous half‐space and on a layer on a flexible half‐space and for embedded and pile foundations is addressed.