Vertical and rocking impedances for rigid rectangular foundations on soilswith bounded non-homogeneity

The vertical and rocking response of rigid rectangular foundations resting on a linear-elastic, compressible, non-homogeneous half-space soil model is studied. The non-homogeneity is described by a continuous yet bounded incr ease of shear modulus with depth. The mixed boundary value problem is solve d by means of the semi-analytical method of the subdivision of the foundati on/soil contact area whereby the influence functions for the sub-regions ar e determined by integration of the corresponding surface-to-surface Green's functions for the particular soil model. Impedance functions are given for representative values of the non-homogeneity parameters, the Poisson's rat io and the foundation geometry over a wide range of frequencies. Significan t features associated with the soil non-homogeneity are pointed out. Copyri ght (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.