Description of the problem

To verify the immediate settlement under a circular loaded area calculated by ELPLA, the immediate settlement at the center of a tank calculated by Das (1983) (Example 6.2, page 354) is compared with that obtained by ELPLA.

A circular tank of 3.0 [m] diameter is considered as shown in Figure 5. The base of the tank is assumed to be flexible and having a uniform contact pressure of q = 100 [kN/m²]. A sand layer 9.0 [m] thick is located under the tank. The modulus of elasticity of the sand is E_s = 21000 [kN/m²] while Poisson’s ratio of the sand is ν = 0.3 [-].

It is required to determine the immediate settlement at the center of the tank for two cases:

a) Considering the underlying soil as one layer of 9.0 [m] thickness.

 Example 5: Immediate settlement under a circular tank on layered subsoil