Journal of Elasticity. vol.

1, no 2, december 1971
Wolters-Noordhoff Publishing Groningen
Printed in the Netherlands

An explicit boussinesq solution for a polynomial distribution of

pressure over a triangular region
OTTO J. SVEC
and
G. 1VI. L. G L A D W E L L
Department of Civil Engineering, Universityof Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario
(Received Aug. 30, 1971)

SUMMARY

This paper presents explicit formulae for the deflection of the surface of an elastic half-space due to a continuous
pressure represented by a cubic polynomial distributed over a triangular area.

1. Introduction

It has not yet been possible to obtain an exact analytical solution for the problem of a plate
resting on the surface of an elastic half-space. The most promising line o f attack for an ap-
proximate solution is provided by Boussinesq's dquation [1 ] which gives the deflection w(x, y)
due to a distributed load p(, r/) acting over an area A as

w(x,y)_i-_~2f f p(, ~)dCd~ (1)

AE J~ J ~/((x- )2 + (y _ ~/)2)

The exact formulae given below refer primarily to the case in which P(x, y) lies within the
triangle. When P lies outside the formulae hold provided that the appropriate (and obvious)
signs are attached to the integrals over A 1, A2, A3. It was found that ordinary numerical
integration of (1) gave poor results whether P was inside or outside A.

2. Analysis

First, we introduce notation describing the triangle, as shown in Fig. 1. The angles which
A 2 A a, A 3A 1, A 1A2 make with the positive direction o f the x-axis are denoted by 51,52, 6 3

A3 / ~3

02 ol

A, ,~, %

Figure 1. Geometry of the triangle.

Journal of Elasticity, 1 (1971) 167-170

168 Otto J. Svec, G. M. L. Gladwell

respectively. The integration implied in Eq. (1) will be carried out separately for each of the
three triangles Aj into which P divides A ~A2 A 3. The procedure described for triangle A ~ may
be adapted to A2 and A 3 b y cyclically rearranging the indices 1, 2, 3.

Y A~

PCx, NI~

Figure 2. Geometry of triangle A~.

Denote the angles between A2A3 and the vectors PA 2 and PA3 by el, e2 respectively, and
the perpendicular distance of P from A2 A3 by nx. The geometry of triangle A x is shown in
Fig. 2. Since the polar angle 0 is related to the angle p by
0 = 61-q~

and since
PSI = PNa/sin q~ = nl/sin q~
we have
COSEC
#
where
= x + r cos ( a l - ~ o ) , q = y + r sin ( a l - ~ o )

The deflection due to a constant pressure is thus

3 fe2j- 1
Vo, o = j~=lnJJ~2j cosec rp dgo (2)

We shall assume a pressure distribution

V(,q) = Z am,.~'rl"
m,n
re+n<=3

Simple algebra shows immediately that the deflection at P(x, y) due to this pressure is
w(x, y) = E am,,W.,,(x, y)
m~n
re+n<3

where

Wm, n ~ Y ra-s,n-t
s=O t=O
An explicit boussinesq solution for a polynomial distribution 169

and
3 /~2j- 1 /~nj cosec ~o
v.... = J--~,J~2, dq~Jo (rcs(~'-cP))m(rsin(Sj-q~))"dr"

The integrals Vm,. are best displayed by using complex arithmetic: in the equations below i
denotes ~ / - 1 . Thus, for example,
3 I~e2j- l
Vl,o + ivo, l 7~ nje d~oe cosec2 dq~. (3)
j = 1 d e23

It is found that Eqs. (2) and (3) and the other equations below m a y all be expressed in terms
o f the following integrals.
2j -- 1
Ij =
f ~2j
cosec dq~ = [log tan r~l~q
~/--/e2j
~2J-~

Ij+ z = - f :2j- 1cos tp cosec 2 q~ = [cosec t p ] ~ -1

2J

2j -- 1

Ij +6 =
f 2j
cosec a q~dq~ = [ - cos q~ cosec 2 tp + log tan q~/2]~-1

g2j-- I
l j + 9 = --
f 2j
cos cp cosec 4 cp = [ cosec 3 m"r.J~2j
q TM-

Thus,
3
vl, o + ivo, 1 = - E nff ei~'(I j+ 3 + il j)
./=1

3
V2,o+Vo,2 = ~ . n j3l j + 6
j=l
3
V2, o + 2iv1,1 -- Vo, 2 = E n3 e2'~J(IJ +6 + 2 iI~ +a -- 2Ij)
j=l

3
4 eia~
j=l

3
V3,0+3iVe, l__3Vl,e__iVo, 3 = 1 ~ 4 3ia.i:
nje [ - - l-j + 9 - - 3 i l j + 6 + 4 I j + a + 4 i l j )
j=l
These equations involve the distances nj. In the case when the origin o f coordinates is taken
to be A 1 and the x-axis lies along A 1 A ~ , we have fi3 = 2r~ and

n3=y

n2 = X sin 8 2 --y COS 8 2

nl = (a2 a3 sin 8 2 - a 2 n 2 - a 3 na)/al

3. D i s c u s s i o n

I n a finite element analysis o f a plate on an elastic f o u n d a t i o n it would be natural to try to use

the deflections and rotations (derivatives o f deflections) at certain points o f the triangle as
degrees o f freedom. Unfortunately, by using an analysis similar to that described above, it is
170 Otto J. Svec, G. M . L, Gladwell

possible to show that the derivatives Ow/dx, Ow/Oy at the vertices of the triangle and the normal
derivative Ow/On at any point on the boundary of the triangle are all infinite. This is true even
for the case of a constant pressure distribution. We showed also that it is not possible to ap-
proximate these derivatives by average values of the form

1 ~ ~w dt ~ - - { w ( e ) - w ( - e ) }
_~ ~t 2e

where t denotes x, y or n. We showed that, in all cases, the limit of the term on the right does
not exist. This means that it is not possible to use the derivatives as degrees of freedom.
Schleicher [2] has presented formulae for the deflection of the elastic half-space due to a
uniform pressure distributed over a rectangle, and Terezawa [3 ] has presented similar formulae
for a circular annulus. It may be proved that the derivatives at the corners of the rectangle,
and the normal derivatives along the boundary in both cases, are all infinite.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1 ] J. Boussinesq, Applications des potentiels a l'#tude de l'dquilibre et du mouvement des solides dlastiques, Paris
(1885)
[2] F. Schleicher, Zur Theorie des Baugrundes, Der Bauinyenieur 48, (1926) 931-935
[3] K. Terazawa, On the elastic equilibrium of a semi-infinite solid, Tokyo J. Coll. Sci., 37, (1916) Art. 7