Boundary Values Problems of Soil Mechanics

The pressures exerted by soil masses against yielding restraints are determined by the theory of elasticity. Specific solutions are obtained for retaining walls, trench sheeting and differentially settling bases for various boundary conditions. For differentially settling bases, the stress distribution in the soil mass itself is also determined. Correlation with field and laboratory data indicates that the theory of elasticity is useful in determining the nature of the stress distribution in a soil mass with given boundary displacement conditions.