The General Theory of Stresses and Displacements in Layered Systems. I

The problems of airport and foundation engineering have become increasingly important in the war construction program. These problems frequently involve the consideration of stresses and settlements in layered soil deposits. The well-known Boussinesq equations apply strictly only to homogeneous soil deposits. The general theory of stresses and displacements in a twolayer system is developed in order to provide the engineer with a useful tool which is more directly applicable to the analysis of actual conditions encountered in soil deposits. The basic equations of stresses and settlements are derived. The numerical evaluation of the surface settlement equation for the simplest case of Poisson's ratio equal to one-half has been completed as the first of a series, and is presented in the form of influence curves for the analysis of practical problems.