Elastic stresses and deformations

Abstract

An important class of soil mechanics problems is the determination of the stresses and deformations in a soil body, by the application of a certain load. The load may be the result of construction of a road, a dyke, or the foundation of a building. The actual load may be the weight of the structure, but it may also consist of the forces due to traffic, wave loads, or the weight of the goods stored in a building. The stresses in the soils must be calculated in order to verify whether these stresses can be withstood by the soil (i.e. whether the stresses remain below the failure criterion), or in order to determine the deformations of the soil, which must remain limited.