Loads on Rigid Box Buried in Nonlinear Medium

Abstract

The relative settlement of a rigid box buried in a nonlinear medium is simulated by the trapdoor model. The nonlinear compressibility and shear‐displacement relationships are idealized by piecewise linear curves for which closed form solutions for each branch of the curve are obtained. A one‐dimensional finite element is defined for which stiffness terms are determined from the analytical solutions. The iterative solution of the finite element system yields results such as: displacement field, normal stress and strain variations, and shear stresses along the slip planes.