Analysis of rectangular plate resting on an elastic

half space using an energy approach

Anant R. Kukreti and Man-Gi Ko
School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, University of Oklahoma,
Norman, OK 73019 USA
An analytical formulation using the principle of minimum potential energy is presented to predict the
jlexural hehuvior of a rectangular plate resting in smooth contuct with un elastic half spuce (soil
medium) and subjected to a uniformly distributed load. The procedure accounts for interaction between
the plate and the soil medium. Compatibility at the interface of the plate und soil medium is sutisfied
by integrating the Boussinesqs formula, which relates the contact stress and the soil surface defor-
mution. Analytical formulations for the following two approximations used to model the contact stress
distributions are presented: u power series expansion and use of Chebychev polynomials. In both the
formulations the integrations over the plate domain are unulytically derived by dividing the plate
surfuce urea into eight triangular zones and evaluating explicitly the integruls over euch zone and
summing the results. First, the boundary conditions at the free edges of the plate are satisfied by
expressing some of the selected generulized coordinutes uppearing in the assumed function in terms
of the other, and then the total energy of the system is minimized to evaluate the unknown independent
generalized coordinates. The process of selecting these generulized coordinates to satisfy the boundary
conditions is uutomuted. Results obtainedfor a square plate are compured with similar results reported
in the literature and with those obtuined from three-dimensional finite element analyses. Results of a
parametric study investiguting the effect of the relative stiflness of the plate with respect to the elastic
half space ure also presented.
Keywords: rectangular plate, soil medium, deflection function, contact stress, interaction, energy
principles
Introduction
The analysis of plate structures resting on a deformable
soil medium is of significance in the design of foun-
dation for various type of structures. The geometrical
shape of the plate generally used is circular or rectan-
gular. Most of the studies have been done for circular
plate problems because of its geometric simplicity. In
case of rectangular and square plate problems, even
though theoretical methods have been reported, there
are practical limitations to the use of these methods
because of the mathematical complexity of the prob-
lem. A numerical method, such as finite element method,
can be used to analyze such a problem. But this method
would be expensive, since three-dimensional elements
are required to model the system properly. As a com-
promise to these two problems, i.e., the mathematical
Address reprint requests to Prof. Kukreti at the School of Engi-
neering and Environmental Science, University of Oklahoma, Nor-
man, OK 73019, USA.
Received 15 January 1990; revised 6 January 1992; accepted 15 Jan-
uary 1992
complexity and computational efficiency, methods based
on energy principles have been suggested recently to
analyze the flexural behavior of a rectangular plate
resting on a deformable soil medium.
One of the earliest works to analyze the rectangular
plate-soil interaction problem was suggested by Gor-
bunov-Posadov,- who assumed a double power se-
ries expansion to approximate both the plate deflection
and the contact stress distribution functions and de-
termined the unknown coefficients by satisfying the
governing differential equation and the boundary con-
ditions at the free edges of the plate. This method was
subsequently extended by Gorbunov-Posadov and
Serebrjanyi4 to analyze large rectangular plates. Be-
cause of the mathematical complexities involved the
application of this method was found to be limited to
only certain geometric aspect ratios of the plate.
Another analytical technique, developed by Ze-
mochkin and Sinitsyn,5 assumes that the contact stress
at the plate-soil interface can be approximated by a
grid of small rectangular areas, each of which is sub-
jected to a unique uniform stress. The uniform stresses
acting over these small areas are then approximated
as equivalent concentrated forces, which in turn are
338 Appt. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July 0 1992 Butterworth-Heinemann
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. KuKreti and M.-G. Ko
determined by satisfying the compatibility between the
plate and the soil surface displacements and making
use of the equilibrium equations of the plate. This work
was an extension of the work done by Zemochkin for
circular plates. This approximation fails to consider
the step contact stress gradient at the plate edges. Oda
has applied the point-matching technique for deter-
mining the contact stress distribution under symmet-
rically loaded rigid rectangular plates resting on a lin-
early deformable elastic half space. Conway et al.x and
Conway and Farnham have employed this method to
solve the two-dimensional genera1 loading problem.
BrownlO numerically integrated the governing differ-
ential equation to analyze a rectangular plate resting
on an elastic half space. Additional analytical and nu-
merical results for plates resting on elastic foundation
have been reported by Borowicka, Poulos and Davis,
Brothers et al.,13 Kondo et a1.,14 and others. A com-
prehensive exposition of some of these works is given
by Selvadurai. I5
Zaman and Faruqueh have applied an energy method
to analyze rectangular plates of varying flexural rig-
idities resting on an isotropic elastic half space. In this
study the deflected shape of the plate is assumed as a
polynomial in terms of the spatial coordinates, and then
the contact stress distribution at the interface of the
plate-half space is assumed as a direct function of the
assumed plate deflection instead of being found by
integrating the Boussinesqs formula. Also, in this pro-
cedure one does not have the luxury of controlling the
error in the solution by considering a larger number of
terms in the assumed deflection function.
Aleksandrov et al. investigated the plane contact
problem of indentation of an elastic plate into the sur-
face of a thick elastic layer, in the absence of friction
between them. The method is based on joining the local
solutions that are valid in the neighborhood of the edges
of the plate to the global solution that is valid at some
distance from them. Improved theory of plate flexure
is used to construct the global solution of the second
kind (classical theory of thin plates yields global so-
lution of the first kind). The local solutions are ob-
tained by examining the problem of interaction of the
elastic quarter and half planes.
Cheung and Zienkiewicz8 introduced the finite ele-
ment technique to analyze plates resting on elastic
foundations. Wang et a1.19 extended this procedure to
analyze rigid pavements by introducing artificial cuts
to limit the size of the slab. HuangzO has suggested the
use of an iterative scheme to make the coefficient ma-
trix banded and has shown that this reduces the com-
puter storage requirements. Two of the limitations of
the finite element so1ution8 are that they assume the
contact stress to be uniform around each nodal point
and they use rectangular plate-bending elements. The
first assumption leads to unrealistic contact stress dis-
tribution, and the second limits the analysis to rectan-
gular plates only. Svec and G1adwel12 introduced tri-
angular plate-bending elements with 33 degrees of
freedom in a bid to overcome these limitations. They
represented the contact stress distribution by a cubic
polynomial to lift the first limitation. Recently, Raja-
pakse and Selvadurai 22 discussed the applicability and
performance of certain Midlin type plate elements, based
on reduced integration techniques, to solve the flexural
interaction between an elastic plate and an elastic half
space.
From the aforementioned literature review it is ev-
ident that the analysis of a rectangular plate foundation
resting on an elastic half space is a complicated prob-
lem, since it involves two spatial variables, and the
boundary conditions have to be specified for all four
edges of the foundation, which involve second- and
third-order derivatives of the plate deflection function.
Gorbunov-Posadovs power series expansion tech-
nique for rectangular plates resting on an elastic half
space is mathematically reasonable, but because of the
complexity of the formulas obtained, their practical
usage is limited to a certain geometric aspect ratio of
the rectangular plates. Because of the nature of its
formulation, this method also cannot be automated and
involves large amounts of manual bookkeeping. The
technique developed by Zemochkin for circular plates
has been extended by Zemochkin and Sinitsyns to rec-
tangular plates by assuming uniform contact stress over
small plate zones. This approximation fails to consider
the step contact stress gradient at the plate edges. Za-
man and Faruqueslh variational method is easily ap-
plicable for rectangular plates with various geometric
aspect ratios. But in this approach they have assumed
that the contact stress is a direct function of the plate
deflection instead of finding this relationship by inte-
grating the Boussinesqs equation, which relates the
contact stress distribution function and the soil defor-
mation in the form of a double integration. Also, in
this procedure one does not have the luxury of con-
trolling the error in the solution by considering the
larger number of terms in the assumed deflection func-
tion. Various finite element applications have also been
suggested. But to obtain realistic results, each problem
has to be analyzed by using three-dimensional ele-
ments, which is computationally expensive. Also, it is
not possible to directly derive analytical expressions
describing the flexural behavior of the plate and also
the function describing the contact stress distribution
at the plate-soil interface.
In this paper an analytical formulation based on the
principle of minimum potential energy is presented to
predict the flexural behavior of a thin rectangular plate
resting in smooth contact with an elastic half space and
subjected to a uniformly distributed load. Compatibil-
ity between the plate and the elastic soil medium in-
terface is assured by integrating the Boussinesqs for-
mula, which relates the contact stress and the soil surface
deformation. Two analytical formulations are pre-
sented to mode1 the contact stress distribution: the
power series expansion and the Chebychev polyno-
mials. The results obtained from the analytical for-
mulations are compared with those reported by Gor-
bunov-Posadov2 and Zaman and Faruque16 and from
a three-dimensional finite element analysis using the
computer program package SAP IV.2
Appt. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July 339
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M.-G. Ko
Analytical formulation using power series
approximation for the contact stress
Assumed contact stress and plate dejlection function
A thin rectangular plate resting on an elastic half
space is considered in this study. Such a plate of length
and width 2a and 2b, respectively, and thickness tp is
shown in Figure I. The plate is subjected to a uniformly
distributed load of intensity p. Since the problem is
symmetrical about the X- and y-axis, the contact stress
distribution, q(x, y), at the interface between the plate
and the half space is assumed as an even power series
function of the spatial coordinates, x and y, as follows:
q(x,y) = p i B;x*yQ
i,j=o
(1)
where n is an arbitrary integer and B; are the unknown
coefficients, called generalized coordinates.
The deformation function, w(x, y), of the soil me-
dium surface, which also represents the deflection
Elastic Ha&pace
Figure 1. Typical rectangular plate resting on an elastic half
space
function of the plate, is related to q(x, y) by the Bous-
sinesqs formula, which is given as follows24:
W(X,Y) = ~
4(5,77)
~(, ~b [(5 - x)2 + (77 - Y)*l*
&4 (2)
where u, is the Poissons ratio and G, is the shear
modulus of the soil medium, and 5 and 77 denote a point
where contact stress is applied. The shear modulus,
G,, is related to Youngs modulus, E,, and u, of the
soil medium by the following relation:
G, = Es
2(1 + us)
Substituting (1) into (2) reduces w(x, y) to
Thus the problem reduces to the evaluation of the fol-
lowing integral:
a b
I, =
t2;v2j
_a _b I(5 - 4* + (I - Y)2112
4dv (5)
where i, j = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . , n. To evaluate I,, the
rectangular plate is divided into eight triangular zones,
as shown in Figure 2a. Taking
I$-x=pcosh
(W
7 - y = psinh
(6b)
where
p = [(5 - x)2 + (77 - Y)212
then
dtdq = pdpdh
(7)
(8)
and (5) becomes
zij = (I,), + (I,>, + * * * + (ZJ,
(9)
where
Al i-l(A)
K-j), = j- / f(p, A) dpdA
0 0
(104
A2 rz(A)
UiJ2 = / j- f(p, A) dp dA
0 0
(lob)
U,), = j- / .HP, A) dp dA
m 0
(1Oc)
A4 ~0)
UiJ4 = j- j- f(p> N dpdA
7T 0
Clod)
340 Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M.-G. Ko
Kjh = j- / S(P, A) dp dA
A* 0
(toe)
where f(p, A) = (x + p cos AP(y + p sin Aj2j, A,,
AZ, . . . , A8 and r,(A), r2(h), . . . , r,(A) are defined in Fig-
ure 2.
In view of
(100
(1Og)
where
i
0
i!
=
s s!(i - s)!
(11)
(12)
it is possible to develop explicit expressions for (I,),
(IOh)
to (I,),. These expressions are given in the appendix.
In view of (5), (9), (IO), and the equations presented
in the appendix, (4) reduces to
W(X,Y) = (1 - u,)
& $ 5 2 5 &!jCiJJrX2i-.~y2.i-~
.~,-0J-o.,-Or-O
where
x [(h;)++I) + (h;)++( - I)z; + (h;)s+f+(- l)Zi
+ (/$;)++I(_ I)s+,Z;l + (&)+r+Z; + (&).\+l I(- l)Z?
+ (A;).++(- l)ZY + (h#++(- l)+z;] (13)
2i 2j
Cij.sr =
( >( 1
s t (14)
s+f+ 1
Zg = In (u,~ + VFG& Z;I=NT&I ,
I =
G m t - 1 z,
--
I 2
for I > 2
t I
(13
hi=h;=a-x hj=h:=a+x h;=h;,=b-y h;=h;,=b+y
h; b-y h; b+y
h;
b-v
*I =;=-
h,
U-X
4=7=-
h,
U-X
[d3 = I = i
h
a+x
(16)
h;
a-x
4
a+x
us=h;=- l4i = h)5 = b-y
b
m-3
m=4
m-7
Figure 2. Subdivisions of the plate used to evaluate the integrals: (a) subdivided zones; (b) variables defining the geometry
of the subdivided zones
Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July 341
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M.-G. Ko
Equation (13), which describes the plate deflection
function, will be used to evaluate the strain energy of
the plate subsystem. In order to do this, partial deriv-
atives of this function up to the fourth order need to
be evaluated first. In its present form, i.e., equation
(13), it would be very cumbersome to evaluate these
derivatives. Thus (13) is expressed first in terms of
the normalized spatial coordinates, then the result-
ing expression is approximated by using Chebychev
polynomials, and finally the required derivatives are
evaluated. The normalized coordinates used are ex-
plained next.
Normulized contact stress and plate deflection
function
The spatial coordinates, x and y, are normalized to
coordinates X and Y, as follows:
X=X
a
(18)
Defining new hi as
/2,=/22=1-X /2,=/2,=1+x
&=&=1-Y h7 = h8 = 1 + Y (19)
and p = alb and x = bla = l/p, and substituting (18)
and these definitions into (1) and (4) give, respectively,
q(X, Y) = p i i B,xziY2j
i=Oj=O
(20)
w(X, Y) = K i 2 B,H,(X, Y)
(21)
;=oj+o
where
B__ = a2ib2jB!.
!I J
(22)
K = (1 - u.Jb
2rrG,
(23)
Hjj(X, Y) =
2i
2j
x x C,,X2--.~y2j~r[P+l{h.;+/+lI) + h;+f+l( _ ])f1:
s=o r=o
+h
$+r+ I( _ 1)~; + h;;+f+l( _ 1)+1;} + x.\{h5+f+ 1;
+ h;++l(-])I: + ,$+,+I(_ I)17 + h$+f+l(- 1)+1f}]
(24)
Approximation using Chebychev polynomials to evuluate strain energy
The next step is to express (24) in a form that can be easily differentiated to evaluate the strain energy stored
in the plate system. This can be achieved by using Chebychev polynomials to approximate H,, i.e., by expressing
H,(X, Y) =
-Yh> ~,)~~(y&)T,(y,)T,(X)T,.(Y)
where ND denotes an arbitrary number of subdivi-
sions; C denotes that the first term of the summation
should be divided by 2;
yk = cos (2k - IT
2ND
.,,, z cos(2t - In
2ND
(26)
and T,(x) are Chebychev functions that can be con-
structed by using the following formulas:
T,+,(z) = 2zT,(z) - Tnpl(Z)
To(z) = 1
Substituting (25) into (24) gives
T,(z) = z (27)
w(X, Y) = & $ $ _, $ Cijt&ktJ2;X2kY2+i+j
k-O/-O,-hJ-1
(28)
(25)
where
n n ND ND
r=Os=O k=l /=I
(2%
&k = 4k( _ 1)bzi
(i + k)!
i + k(2k)!(i - k)!
(30)
and the symbol 4; is such that 6; = 1 if i # 0 and
$o = l/2. Equation (28) can be abbreviated as
n n
w(X, Y) = K x 2 A,X2;y2j
i=Oj=O
where
A, = i i DijrJL
r=Os=O
(31)
(32)
(33)
342 Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M-G. Ko
Equation (32) can
as follows:
[Al = [DI[Bl
also be expressed in a matrix form,
(34)
Thus the coefficients appearing in the deflection func-
tion, w(X, Y), and those appearing in the contact stress
function, &f, Y), are linearly related by the coeffi-
cients D,,,. But both the contact stress and the dis-
placement functions are related to the same unknown
coefficients or generalized coordinates, B,.
Finally, the plate displacement function, w(X, Y),
can be expressed as polynomial functions containing
the unknown coefficients, B;j, as follows:
W(X, Y) = Kc 2 x x Diir,,B,,X2iY7.i (35)
i=Oj=Or=O 5-O
Application of plate boundary conditions
Along the edges of the plate the bending and the
twisting moments and the vertical shear force must
vanish. These boundary conditions for each free edge
were first expressed by Poisson, and later, KirchhoffZ6
proved that by using small deflection theory for thin
plates it is not possible to satisfy these three boundary
conditions simultaneously. Kirchhoff showed that the
twisting moment, M,,., in the xy-plane and the shearing
forces along x- and y-directions, Q.%, and QV, respec-
tively, must be replaced by one boundary condition.
The argument for this is that the vertical edge forces,
V, and V,, along x- and y-directions per unit length,
respectively, can be written as
(37)
where QX and Q? are the lateral shear forces and the
second terms &V,,,l~y and dM,,ldx represent the ad-
ditional shearing forces at the edges, produced by the
torsional moments, M,, = My.,. These additional shear-
ing forces are called Kirchhoffs supplementary forces.
Thus the boundary conditions at the four plate edges
are as follows (refer to Figure I):
Zero moment conditions
[M.,l,=,,, = -0, 1 = 0
* = t 0
(384
[M,Jv=_ch= -0, 1 =O
= kh
(38b)
Zero shear force conditions
= -%[
5
dW
+ (2 - LI,) -
1
=
axay2
0
x= fU
(39a)
PJv=tt, = [Q,, + %lickb
a3w a3w
= -DiJ
ay + (2 - up)-
ax2ay
1
, , = zh =
0
Wb)
where D, = E,,t;1/[12( 1 - u,)] represents the flexural
rigidity of the plate. Substituting (28) and (31) into (38a)
and (39b) gives a set of 4(n + 1) or 4N linear simul-
taneous equations, which can be expressed in matrix
form as _
[WIIAI = 0 (40)
where
[Al =
A(l) - 40, 0)
A(2) 40, 1)
A(N)
A(N + I)
AtO, n)
41, 1)
A(N*) _ ,Ah n)
(41)
and the elements of the matrix [WI are functions of i,
j, v,], p, and x. Equation (40) represents 4N numbers
of linear simultaneous equations with N2 numbers of
unknown coefficients (or generalized coordinates). Us-
ing these relations, 4N number of generalized coor-
dinates can be eliminated by expressing them in terms
of the other (N - 4N) number of generalized coor-
dinates. To reduce the unknown coefficients from N
to (N - 4N), (40) is partitioned as follows:
(42)
However, the form of matrix [WI obtained for this
problem does not permit arbitrary partitioning. For
example, when N = 6, the form of matrix [W] obtained
is shown in Figure 3. In this figure the darkened ele-
ments are nonzero elements, and the others left blank
will be equal to zero. From the figure it can be seen
that if the last 12 columns are chosen as the ones as-
sociated with the (N? - 4N) unknowns in vector [A],
then some of the rows, such as row numbers 17, 18.
23, and 24, will have all elements equal to zero, which
will cause singularity when solving (42) for [A], be-
cause [W] cannot be inverted. Therefore to avoid this
singularity problem, a systematic way to choose the
(N - 4N) columns related to the independent vari-
ables in vector [A] is necessary. The following algo-
rithm is suggested:
1. Rearrange the rows of [W] so that it is in row-
echelon form. In other words, after rearrangement,
if ai denotes the column number of the first nonzero
element in row i, then the following relation exists:
a, 5 a2 5 . . . 5 a,. In this stage, vector {NR} is
used to record the rearrangement of the rows of the
matrix. If row number i of the original matrix ap-
Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July 343
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M-G. Ko
I1
I I I I r
12 I
Figure 3. Form of matrix [WI for N = 6 (or n = 5)
2
3.
pears in row numberjof the rearranged matrix, then matrix [WI, which is of the order of (4N x N*),
make NR(j) = i. can be expressed as follows:
The rearranged matrix has 4N rows and N* col-
umns. Next, choose 4N numbers b,, bZ, . . . , bAN
from the set 1, 2, . . . , N2, which will correspond
to appear in the matrix [W]. The numbers bj are
chosen recursively as follows: (a) 6, = al ; (b)
For i 2 2, define bi to be the least number in the
column associated with a nonzero entry in row i ,
and which is also greater than all the previously
chosen bi (1 5 j 5 i - 1).
Now, sort the numbers b,, bZ, . . . , bdN so that they
are arranged in increasing order, and store them in
the vector {NC}, the elements of which are NC(l),
NC(2), . . . , NC(4N). Finally, all the column num-
bers from 1 to N*, which do not appear in the set
b b 4N, are stored in the vector NC(4N + I),
A&N + 2), . . . , NC(N*). Now the elements of
W(i , j) =
W(i ,j ) if lsjs4N
W(i ,j ) if 4N + l%jlw
(43)
where
W(i , j) = W(NR(i ), NC(j)) for 1 5 i , j 5 4N
W(i , j) = W(NR(i ), NC(4N +j)) for 1 5 i 5 4N
(44a)
lsjsN*-4N (44b)
The rearranged form of matrix [W] so obtained is shown
in Fi gure 4 for N = 6. Substituting (35) into (40) re-
duces it to
wI[m~l = 0
(45)
where
WOWl), NC(l)) WWWl), NW)) WWR(l), NCW*))
[WI =
wNwL NC(l)) WWW), NCW) WWW, NCW*))
W(NR(4N), NC(2)) W(NR(4N), NC(N*))
344 Appt. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July
(464
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M-G. Ko
[Dl =
[Bl =
DOW 1) > NC( 1)) DOGI), NCG?)) D(NC(I), NC(N2))
DWCC3, NC( 1)) DWW), NCW)
D(NC(2), NC(W))
D(N&), NC(I)) D(NC(N;), NC(2)) D(NC(N;, NC(W))
[ NwI)) 1
Equation (45) can be abbreviated as
[B,l = - [ wD,l [ W&l[Bzl = 1 TI [ &l (49)
[WDl[Bl = 0 (47) where [T] = - [ WD,] [ WDJ. Thus (49) expresses
where [ WDI = [ Wl[D], and then can be partitioned
the 4N dependent generalized coordinates in terms of
as follows:
the remaining (N - 4N) unknown independent gen-
eralized coordinates.
[B,l
Considering (491, the number of unknown coeffi-
[[W~,l[W~,ll ,B21 = 0
F 1
(48)
cients in (21) and (35) that define q(X, Y) and w(X, Y),
respectively, can be reduced as follows:
which can be opened and solved for [B,], giving I. Equation (21) can be written as
r
II
NR(i) J
Figure 4. Form of matrix [WI after rearrangement for N = 6 (or n = 5)
Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July 345
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M.-G. Ko
4(X, Y)
- = B(NC(l))ZQ(NC(l)) + B(NC(2))ZQ(NC(2)) + . . . + B(NC(4N))ZQ(NC(4N))
P
+ B(NC(4N + l))ZQ(NC(4N + I)) + . . . + B(NC(N))ZQ(NC(N))
(50)
where
ZQ(ZK) = X2Y2j
(51)
in which i and j are
But in view of (49),
relatedtoZKbytheformula:ZK=iN+ i+ lforOsisN- landOsjsN- 1.
(50) can be written as
y = [ZQ(NC(l))ZQ(NC(2)). . . ZQ(NC(4N))l
T(1,2) . . . T(1,4N)
T(2,2) . . . T(2,4N)
T(4N, 2). . . T(4N, 4N)
+ [ZQ(NC(4N + 1)) ZQ(NC(4N + 2)). . . ZQ(NC(N2))]
Np4N
X = x G(f;)B(NC(4N + ZJ)
(52)
I,= I
where
GV;) = : (ZQWCW)UV, 1;)
k=l
+ ZQ(NC(4N + ZJ) (53)
in which 1; = 1 to (N2 - 4N).
2. Similarly, a new form for w(X, Y) can be developed
by using (49) and defining a new vector {ZW} as
follows:
ZW(ZZ) = i i D,.yiiX2Y2
r=os=o
= $ D(ZK,ZZ)X2Y2 (54)
rk= I
where ZZ varies from 1 to 4N and r and s are related
to zk by the formula Ik = rN + s + 1. Then (35),
which defines w(X, Y), can also be expressed in
terms of the (N2 - 4N) number of independent
unknown generalized coordinates, as follows:
F = N"gNF(Z;)B(NC(4N + I;))
(55)
I,= I
where
F(Z;) = g (ZW(NC(k))T(k,Z;)
k=I
+ ZW(NC(4N + Z;))) (56)
in which Zj = 1 to (N2 - 4N).
Total potential energy functional
The total potential energy functional, UT, of the
plate-half space system is composed of the following
three contributions:
u, = UP -I- u, -I- u, (57)
where
U, strain energy stored in the plate due to bending,
a b
UP = % 1 J [(w,, + WYJ2 + a1 - qJ(w$ - w,, W_,)l dx dy
a -b
&(b4wgx + aw& + 2a2b2wx,wyy) + 2(1 - u,)$w& - wxxwvr) dXdY
1
346 Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M.-G. Ko
Us strain energy stored in the soil medium,
I I
U,=;ab
J -J
q(X, Y)w(X, Y) dXdY (59)
PI P1
U, work done by the externally applied load.
I I
U, = -pab
J -I
w(X, Y) dX dY
-1-I
(60)
Finally, in view of (52), (55), and (58)-(60) the total potential energy functional, UT, can be expressed as
I I
+ i pKab
J-J-(
N'-4N N'-4N
c B(ZW(Z;) c B(Z,)G(f;) dXdY
-I -I
I ,=I I,= I )
I I
- pKab
II
N-4N
2 B(Z,)F(Z;) dX dY (61)
-I PI
I ,=I
Minimization of total potential energy functional
In order that (35) can adequately describe the plate
deflection and the contact stress acting at the plate-half
space interface, the independent generalized coordi-
nates, B(Zi), where Ii = 1 to (N* - 4N), should be
chosen such that the value of the total potential energy
functional is a relative minimum. According to the prin-
ciple of minimum potential energy, this can be achieved
by setting equal to zero the first derivative, with re-
spect to each of the independent generalized coordi-
nates, i.e.,
i3Ur
-=
aB(Zi)
0
(62)
where 1; = 1 to N* - 4N. Substituting (61) into (62)
gives a set of linear simultaneous equations with B,j as
the unknowns, which can be written as
[XI[Bl =IFI (63)
where, after evaluating all the integrals appearing in
the expressions for the elements of the matrices [Xl
and [F], the following relationships are obtained:
+ + g 5 CRS(i, Zi)Clis(j, rj) (?(f6+m;r)(~ 1,c:~f2+m~)! 3)
;=lj=]
+ y 5 5 CRS(i, Zi)CRS(j, Zj) ,,:\(T ,,i:F+T)! ,)
i=,j=,
+ 4( 1 - 0,) 2 $ $ CRS(i, ZJ CZ?S( j, Zi)
64rslm
,+lJ -I
(2(r + 1) - 1)(2(s + m) - 1)
+ :pKab 5 CRS(i, ZJ
4
i=l
(2(r + i,) + 1)(2(s +j2) + 1) continued
Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July 347
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M.-G. Ko
+ g T(k I-)
4
&=I
(2(r + ix) + 1)(2(S +j,) + 1)
+ :pKab 5 CRS(i, Zj)
4
i= I
(2(r + id + 1)(2(s +j,) + 1)
+ f$ T(k,ZJ
4
k=l
(2(r + i2) + 1)(2(s +j,) + 1)
F(Zi) = 5 CRS(i I.)
4
i= I
(2r + 1)(2s + 1)
where
CRS(i, Zi) = D(i, NC(4N + Z;)) + ff T(k, Zi)D(i, NC(k))
!%=I
(64
(65)
(66)
and r, s, 1, m, i], j,, iz, j,, i3, and j, are integers, which are obtained from the following relationships:
i=rN+s+ 1 j=IN+m+l NC(4N + ZJ = i,N + j, + 1
NC(k) = &IV + j, + 1 NC(4N+Zj)=i,N+j,+ 1 (67)
Also in (63) and (64), both Ii and Zj vary from i to (IV*
- 4N). Thus the (IV2 - 4N) unknown independent
B(ZJ can be solved from
[Bl = [Xlr[Fl (68)
Finally, substituting the results obtained from (68) into
(52) and (55), the contact stress distribution and the
deflection function of the plate can be evaluated.
Analytical formulation using Chebychev
polynomials approximation for contact stress
In this section the analytical formulation for a rectan-
gular plate resting on an elastic foundation when the
contact stress distribution function itself is approxi-
mated by Chebychev polynomials instead of a power
series is presented. Because the steps involved are
exactly similar to the ones presented in the previous
section, where the contact stress was approximated by
a power series, only the new resulting equations will
be presented in this section.
To approximate the contact stress distribution by
Chebychev polynomials, the spatial coordinates are
normalized by defining X and Y, as done before, by
(19). Using these normalized spatial coordinates, the
contact stress distribution between the plate and the
half space is assumed as
(69)
In view of (28) this equation can be written as
(70)
Similarly, the Boussinesqs formula (equation (2)), which
relates the contact stress to the plate deflection, can
be expressed by using the normalized spatial coordi-
nates, as follows:
(71)
Using the integration method presented in the previous
section, i.e., dividing the rectangular plate into eight
triangular zones (refer to Figure 2), integrating over
each triangular zone and then summing them up, re-
duces (71) to
w(X, Y) = K i ~&&(X, Y)
i=Oj=O
where
K = (1 - u&b
87TG,
(72)
(73a)
348 Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M.-G. Ko
H..(X, y) = i i -$ 5 CijklstX*k~sy2/~[p+(h;++z)
k=O/=O.~=O~=O
+ @++l(-l)]; + &++I + &+r+l(-l)SI; + ,~+I+(-l)~~)
+ Xq&++lz; + /I;++( - l)Z2 + h;++( - l)Z,7
+ &++l( _ I).TZf)]
zm = Am (tan W dA
t
/ cos h
(73C)
0
(73b)
Cijklsr = &ktj2y1
(y)(:,)/,s+t+I, G3d) Substituting (70) and (71) into (58)-(60), and then
using (62), gives an equation similar to (63) but with
and A has been defined earlier by (6a) and (6b). the elements of matrix [X] defined by
7
X(Zi, Zj) = y 5 5 CRS(i, Zi)CRS(J, !I) (2(r ~;5(~3~(~:(~~SI)t 1)
i=fj=]
7 7
+ 4( 1 - U,) Z$ $ $ CRS(i, ZJCRS( j, Zj)
64rslm
,-IJ-I
(2(r + I) - 1)(2(s + m) - 1)
+ &Kab g CRS(i,ZJ 2 $ t,,t$,,
[
I
;=I II = 0 I, = 0
(2(Z, + r) + 1)(2(Z, + s) + I)
+ s Z(k, Zj) 2 5 t;l;t$,m
1

k=l I~=oI,=o
(2(Z, + r) + 1)(2(Z, + s) + 1)
2
+ $Kab 5 CRS(i, ZJ
I
5 5 t;,i t$,y
1
i=l IA = 0 I, = 0
(2(Zk + r) + ,)(2(Z, + s) + ,)
,),(2(z + s) + ,)
1
(74)
k=l II_=0 I,=0 I
where il, .A, k, _h, 4, .A
and r and s are related to
NC(4N + ZJ, NC(k) and NC(4N + Zj), respectively,
by the following relations:
NC(4N+ZJ=i,N+j,+ 1
(75a)
NC(k)=i,N+j,+ 1
(75b)
NC(4N + Zj) = i3N + j, + 1
(75c)
i=rN+s
(75d)
and CRS(i, .ZJ is the same as given by (66). The ele-
ments of matrix [Fl in (63) will remain the same and
are given by (64). Therefore, (68) can now be used with
appropriate values for the elements of matrix [X] to
solve for the unknown independent coefficients B(i).
Finally, by substituting these coefficients into (70) and
(72), the contact stress distribution and the deflection
function of the plate, respectively, can be evaluated.
Numerical examples
In this section the analytical formulations presented in
the previous two sections are numerically investigated
for an isolated square plate (a/b = I) foundation resting
on an elastic half space and subjected to a uniformly
distributed load of intensity 4 = 1 psi. The results
obtained are compared with those obtained by a three-
dimensional finite element solution using the computer
program package SAP IV.23 Also, the flexural mo-
Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July 349
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M-G. Ko
ments obtained are compared with the results reported
by Gorbunov-Posadov2 and Zaman and Faruque.i6 In
this section, first, the nondimensional parameters used
to compare the results are explained. Then the nu-
merical results obtained are presented and compared.
Finally, the effect of the variation of the main nondi-
mensional parameter selected is presented.
Nondimensional quantities
Various nondimensional parameters, which repre-
sent the relative stiffness of the plate-half space, have
been developed by different researchers.4,5,27 These
parameters combine the different variables represent-
ing the properties of the plate-half space into one vari-
able, thus facilitating the case studies to be conducted
to predict the behavior of the plate foundation by vary-
ing only one variable instead of the seven parameters
identified in the previous subsections, which were u,
b, t,, Ep, u,, ES, and u,, where a and b represent the
dimension of the plate, E is the modulus of elasticity
and u is Poissons ratio, and subscripts p and s rep-
resent the quantities pertaining to the plate and the soil
medium, respectively.
A relative stiffness parameter, K,, as defined by
Gorbunov-Posadov and Serebrjanyi,4 is used in this
study. This dimensionless parameter is defined as fol-
lows:
127r(l - u;) E, a * b 2
Kg= (1-u;) E, t, t,
00
(76)
The value of this parameter is a measure of the foun-
dation flexibility. A value of K, = 0 represents a per-
fectly rigid plate, whereas K, = m represents theoret-
ically a perfectly flexible plate. But, as suggested by
Gorbunov-Posadov and SerebrjanyL4 for practical pur-
poses the plate can be treated as a rigid plate if K, 5
S/m, where a/b represents the aspect ratio of the
plate. In this study, numerical examples for K, = 5
(2, 4000, 30, 30, 4.605, 0.2, 0), K, = 10 (5, 3000, 30,
30, 5.4835, 0.2, 0), K, = 15 (2, 4000, 30, 30, 3.1935,
0.2, 0) and K, = 20 (2, 4000, 30, 30,2.9015, 0.2,O) are
presented, where the seven elements in the parenthesis
represent the values E, (psi), Ep (psi), a (in.), b (in.),
t, (in.), up, and u,, respectively. In addition, the plate
deflection function, w(x, y), the contact stress distri-
bution function, q(x, y), and the flexural moments of
the plate, M, and My, along the X- and y-axis, respec-
tively, are nondimensionalized, as follows:
x&Y) =
ES
p4l - uf)
w(x, Y)
4(x, Y)
K&Y) = -
P
MAX, Y)
Kc&Y) = ~
pa*
fi,kY) =
MJx, Y)
pa2
(77a)
Vb)
(77c)
G7d)
where all functions with an overbar denote nondimen-
sional variables.
Finite element model used
A three-dimensional eight-noded isoparametric ele-
ment with three transitional degrees of freedom per
node is used in this study. Due to the geometric sym-
metry of the problem, only one quarter part of the plate
is modeled by using the finite elements. The finite ele-
ment mesh selected is shown in Figure 5. As shown
in this figure, the effective zone of the soil medium
considered in the analysis is bounded by 5 times the
plate dimension in the z-direction (i.e., 5 x 2a) and
1.5 times the plate dimension in the x- and y-direction
(i.e., 1.5 x 2a), respectively. This boundary is con-
sistent with the values reported by Boussinesq and
Westergaad.28 The nodes on the planes of symmetry
and those on the planes defining the boundary of the
soil medium are constrained such that no translation
normal to these planes occurs. The finite element mesh
shown in Figure 5 contains 1512 elements, which in-
clude 72 three-dimensional plate elements. This finite
element model is analyzed by using the computer pro-
gram package SAP IV. 23 The results obtained are used
to validate the two formulations presented in this pa-
per.
Results when the contact stress is approximated by
power series
A comparison of the nondimensional plate deflec-
tion obtained for K, = 10 is shown in Figure 6. It is
observed that the deflection obtained by the method
presented in this paper does not change significantly
as the number of terms in the power series is increased
from 4 to 5. In fact, the two solutions obtained, as
shown in Figure 6, more or less overlap each other.
Also the present analysis predicted the displacement
at the plate center, which was 4.5% less compared to
the results obtained by the three-dimensional finite ele-
ment analysis. In Figure 7 the nondimensional flexural
moments for a plate obtained with K, = 10 are com-
tt?
t
10a
1
(Not to scale)
Figure 5. Finite element mesh used for the square plate prob-
lem
350 Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M-G. Ko
0.0 0.1 0.2. 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Nomalized distance along x- and y-axis
Figure 6. Comparison of the plate deflection variation obtained
using the power series approximation and finite element method
(FEM) for Kg = 10
0.04'
0.03'
0.02'
0.01'
0.004 . . . . . .
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
Normalized distance along x- and y-axis
Figure 7. Comparison of the moment variation obtained by
using the power series approximation and that reported in the
literature for Kg = 10
pared with the existing solutions. The results obtained
for the moment at the plate center by the method de-
veloped in this study is 29.7% higher than the value
reported by Gorbunov-Posadov2 and 12.2% higher than
the value reported by Zaman and Faruque.lh But the
boundary moments predicted by the method developed
in this study converge to zero, as they should, but those
reported by Zaman and Faruque did not do so. So the
method developed in this study predicts more correct
boundary values than those reported by Zaman and
Faruque. Figure 8 shows the contact stress distribution
obtained by the power series approximation when
n = 4 and II = 5. In this figure the results are also
compared with those obtained by the three-dimen-
sional finite element analysis.
Results when the contact stress is approximated by
Chebychev polynomial
The variation of the plate deflection along the X- or
y-axis obtained by this approximation for the relative
stiffness, K, = 5, 10, 15, and 20, respectively, as shown
in Figures 9a-9d, respectively. In these figures the
plate deflection obtained by the three-dimensional fi-
nite element analysis is also shown. It should be noted
in these figures that the variation of the plate deflection
obtained by the Chebychev polynomial approximation
for n = 4,5,6 more or less overlap each other, showing
that the deflection results predicted do not change sig-
nificantly as n is increased beyond 4. In Figure 9, com-
paring the results obtained for the plate deflection by
using the Chebychev polynomial approximation and
the finite element analysis, it is concluded that the two
results agree reasonably well, giving a maximum dif-
ference of 5.1% for K, = 5, 4.5% for K, = 10, 4.5%
for K, = 15 and 4.25% for K, = 20 between the two
solutions. The variance of the flexural moment for
K, = IO along with X- or y-axis obtained by using the
Chebychev polynomial approximation is compared with
the results reported by Zaman and Faruque16 and Gor-
bunov-Posadov2 in Figure IO. As shown in this figure,
the results obtained by the Chebychev approximation
for n = 4,5,6 more or less overlap each other, showing
that flexural moments predicted do not change signif-
icantly as n is increased beyond 4. It can be seen from
Figure 10 that moment results obtained at the plate
center by using the Chebychev polynomial approxi-
mation are 28.1% higher than the value reported by
Gorbunov-Posadov2 and 10.8% higher than the value
reported by Zaman and Faruque. But the moment
variation obtained by using the Chebychev polyno-
mials converges to a zero value at the boundary, whereas
0.0
F.E.M.
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.9 1 . C
Normalized distance along x- and y-axis
Figure 8. Contact stress distribution obtained by using the power
series approximation and FEM for Kg = 10
Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July 351
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M.-G. Ko
o.~~ . . . . . . . .
1.4
11,
1.0
0.8
0.0
0.4
0.2
Normalized distance along x-
and y-axis
2.4r
2.2 C
FEM
2.0 . / _
I.0 7 / 7
n-4
1.6 n-5 n-6
1.4,
(5
1.0
0.0
0.6,
0.4
0.2,
0.0% . . ,
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.9 0.9
Normalized distance along x-
and y-axis
o.oC . l
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0:q 0.7 0.1 0.9 1.0
Normalized distance along x-
and y-axis
2.4
2.2 d FE.hi
2.0 I I
1.8 1 7 7
1.0,
s-4 n-5 r-6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8,
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.01 . . . . .
0.0 0.1 0.2. 0.3 0.4 03 0.9 0.7 0.8 0.0 1
Normalized distance along x-
and y-axis
Figure 9. Plate deflection obtained by using the Chebyshev polynomial and FEM for KS = (a), 5, (b) 10, (c) 15, and (d) 20
0.041 \\ w
I \\ \
0.05
0.02
0.01
0.004 . . .
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.9 0.7 0.0 0.9
Normalized distance along x- and y-axis
Figure 10. Comparison of the moment variation obtained by
using the Chebyshev polynomial and that reported in the liter-
ature for Kg = 10
352 Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July
it did not do so in the results reported by Zaman and
Faruque. In Figures lla-lld the contact stress dis-
tribution obtained by using the Chebychev approxi-
mation for K, = 5, 10, 15, and 20, respectively, is
presented along with the results obtained by the three-
dimensional finite element analysis. From these figures
it can be seen that for each K, value the variation of
the contact stress predicted near the center of the plate
by using the Chebychev polynomials does not change
significantly as n is increased, whereas the variation
of contact stress gradient near the boundary increases
rapidly as n is increased, which implies that as the
number of polynomial terms is increased, better pre-
diction for the contact stress distribution can be ex-
pected.
Effect of relative stiffness parameter on the results
predicted
Figure 12 shows the variation of the plate deflection,
obtained by using the Chebychev polynomial approx-
imation for K, = 5, 10, 15, and 20, respectively. In
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M.-G. Ko
5.0
a
4.5
3.5
!
5.0.
2.5'
2.0'
1.s'
1.0
0.3
0.04 . . . . . . .
a.0 0.1 0.2 &?I 0.4 0.5 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Normalized distance along x-
and y-axis
5.0
TC
I
4.5
4.0
I
cl
cfl 3.0
c,
0 2.5
s
o 2.0'
0
5 '='
Q)
.: 1.0'
B-l,
I 0.5,
ii 0.01
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.0 1.0
Normalized distance along x-
and y-axis
5.0
b
4.5'
n
3.0'
23'
2.0'
1.5
F.E.M.
1.0
0.5
a.04 . . . . . . . . J
0.0 0.1 0.2 OJ 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Normalized distance along x-
and y-axis
5.0 Id
o.oi . . . . . . . .-.-
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.s 0.6 0.7 0.1 0.9 1
Normalized distance along X-
and y-axis
Figure 11. Comparison of the contact stress distribution obtained by using the Chebychev polynomial at FEM for Kg = (a) 5, (6) 10,
(c) 15, and (d) 20
0.d . . . . . . . . . I
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0. 4 0. 5 0. 6 0. 7 0. 8 0. 0 1. 0
Normalized distance along x- and y-axis
0. 0 0. 1 0. 2 0. 3 0. 4 0. 5 0. 6 0. 7 0. 1 0. 9 1
Normalized distance along x- and y-axis
Figure 12. Influence of the relative rigidity on the nondimen- Figure 13.
sional plate deflection
Influence of the relative rigidity on the nondimen-
sional plate flexural moment
Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July 353
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M-G. Ko
Normalized distance along x- and y-axis
Figure 14. Influence of the relative rigidity on the nondimen-
sional contact stress
this figure it can be seen that as the plate becomes
stiffer, in other words, as the relative stiffness of plate
K, decreases, the deflection at the plate center de-
creases. Figure 13 shows the variation of the flexural
moment of the plate alongx- ory-axis obtained by using
the Chebychev polynomial approximation for K, = 5,
10, 15, and 20. In this figure it can be seen that as the
plate becomes stiffer the flexural moment of the plate
around the plate center increases. F&J UYP 14 shows the
variation of the contact stress at the plate-soil interface
obtained by using the Chebychev polynomial approx-
imation for K, = 5, 10, 15, and 20. In this figure it can
be seen that as the plate becomes more flexible, in
other words, as the relative stiffness of the plate K,
increases, the contact stress around the center of the
plate also increases.
Conclusions
An analytical procedure is presented to predict the
flexural behavior of a rectangular plate resting on an
elastic half space. The procedure accounts for the in-
teraction between the plate foundation and the soil
medium, and in this paper, only the case in which the
whole plate is subjected to a uniformly distributed load
is presented. The method can be extended to include
other types of loadings in the expression for Ul given
in (60). The analytical formulation is based on the prin-
ciple of minimum potential energy. The contact stress
distribution function is approximated in the following
two ways: by a power series expansion and by Che-
bychev polynomials. In both the approximations the
basic variables appearing in each term are the spatial
coordinates, x and y, describing the geometry of the
middle plane of the plate, and the coefficients asso-
ciated with each term are called the generalized co-
ordinates. By satisfying the force-related boundary
conditions (or natural boundary conditions) at the free
edges of the plate, some of the generalized coordinates
are expressed in terms of the other coefficients. The
remaining unknown coefficients are called the inde-
pendent generalized coordinates. The minimization of
the total potential energy functional with respect to the
independent generalized coordinates results in a set of
linear simultaneous equations, which are solved to de-
termine the values of the unknown generalized coor-
dinates. These values are then substituted back into
the plate deflection function and the contact stress dis-
tribution function, and finally, the flexural moments in
the plate are computed.
Thus in this paper an analytical method has been
presented to analyze the rectangular plate-soil foun-
dation interaction problem, in which the natural bound-
ary conditions at the plate edges are satisfied exactly.
Satisfaction of these boundary conditions leads to a
more correct prediction of the contact stress distri-
bution between the rectangular plate and soil foun-
dation, which is largest near the plate edges. The en-
ergy method presented by Zaman and Faruquej fails
to do this, and so do all the finite element applications.
If the problem is solved using finite element method,
there are other limitations also. As pointed out by
Cheung and Zienkiewicz and Svec and Gladwell,*
use of plate-bending elements requires the contact stress
variation around each nodal point to be approximated,
which may not be realistic. If a similar type of finite
element is used to discretize the plate and soil medium,
as done in this paper by using three-dimensional finite
elements for both, then this assumption for the contact
stress variation is not needed. But in such a case the
bending moment and shear forces created in the plate
(or foundation slab), which are needed for design, can-
not be determined directly. If the nodal displacement
values obtained from the finite element analysis are
used, the second derivatives (or curvature) and third
derivatives have to be first evaluated by using some
finite difference formulas and then substituted into the
standard expressions relating bending moments and
shears to these derivatives, using the thin bending plate
theory. This approach not only is cumbersome, but
also may give more error in the results and may require
a very fine finite element mesh to reduce this error to
acceptable limits. In the method presented in the pa-
per, once the unknown coefficients (B,) in the plate
deflection function, w(x, y), have been computed, ex-
plicit analytical expressions can be written for varia-
tion of bending moments (M,, M,,, and Mxy) and shear
forces (V, and V,) for the complete plate domain. The
method presented in this paper is easy to automate by
using the expressions presented and does not require
extensive preparation of input data, as is typically needed
for a finite element analysis. The method presented
would require the geometric dimensions of the plate
(a, 6, f,,), distributed load intensity (p), properties of
the plate and soil foundation material (E,, EP, u,, and
u,), and the number of terms to be considered in the
approximate function to be the input data. No boun-
daries of the soil medium are needed to be considered,
as would be required for a finite element analysis.
In comparing the numerical results obtained with
354 Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M.-G. Ko
those obtained by finite element method we conclude
that the Chebychev polynomial approximation predicts
better results, especially for the contact stress distri-
bution, than the simple power series approximation.
Both methods predicted more conservative plate mo-
ments than those obtained by the methods suggested
by Gorbunov-Posadov and Zaman and Faruque. I6 Also,
both methods modelled the boundary conditions ac-
curately. Convergent solutions for plate deflections were
obtained by both methods. However, one has to be
careful that for a particular choice of n the matrix [X]
does not become ill conditioned, which could be pos-
sible if a large value of n is needed to obtain a con-
vergent solution. As expected, it was found that as the
plate becomes more flexible relative to the soil me-
dium, then the contact stress around the center of the
plate increases, indicating that the soil-structure inter-
action will be of importance.
References
I
2
3
4
5
6
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II
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Appendix
After evaluating the integrations in (lOa)-(10h) the
expressions obtained for (Iij),,,, where m =
8 are, respectively, as follOws:
1,2, . . . )
2i 2j
@)* = 2 2 C,,n*-sy*j~r(h;)s+r+l(_
s=or=o
2; 2j
( &) , = c c CijsrX*i-sy2~r(h;)s+r+ ( -
.,=Ot=O
(Al)
,*I:
W)
,.TI;
(A3)
2i
*.i
(Q, = 2 x CiJstX*;-SY*j~t(h~)s+r+ ( - ,).s+l;
.Y=Ol=O
(A4)
2;
2.i
(I,), = C x CijslXzi-SYZi~r(h;)\+r+ 1-I
(As)
.y=O,=O
2i
*j
(& = c. 2 C~.,tX*;-sy*j~(h~)J +r+(- 1)z:
.r=Of=O
646)
Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July 355
Energy analysis of rectangular plate on elastic half space: A. R. Kukreti and M.-G. Ko
2i
2j
(I,), = c. 2 C,,X*-sy2j-(h;)s+t+( - l)Zi
where
s=Ot=O
u,
b47)
c= o &
I
du for i= 1,2,...,8
b49)
2i
2j
<z,), = x x ci jsrX2;-sy*j-f(h~)s++ I(- j)s+tzf
s=Ot=O and Ui = tan Ai for i = 1, 2, . . . , 8. The angular
b48)
measurement A; are defined in Figure 2b.
356 Appl. Math. Modelling, 1992, Vol. 16, July