The Boussinesq problem for soils with bounded non-homogeneity

The response of a compressible continuously non-homogeneous elastic soil to a static vertical point load on its surface is analytically investigated by using classical integral transform techniques and the extended power series method for obtaining the solution in the transform domain. The non-homogeneity is described by means of a depth-function which is non-zero at the surface and bounded at infinity and is capable in modelling both increasing and decreasing soil stiffness with depth. The influence of non-homogeneity on the displacements and stresses at the surface and in the interior is examined over a wide range on the governing parameters. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.