Approximate Green's Function for Surface Foundations

Abstract

In a strength‐of‐materials approach to foundation dynamics, approximate Green's functions are employed in lieu of rigorous fundamental solutions. For a vertical point load on the elastic half‐space, the form of the Green's function may be deduced via nonmathematical physical reasoning, then calibrated with a few constants taken from rigorous solutions. By superposing point loads, approximate Green's functions are constructed for a ring, then a disk. Finally, arbitrarily shaped foundations are treated as an assemblage of subdisks. As an example, rectangular foundations with various slenderness ratios are analyzed. The results verify that for slenderness ratios