Boundary element analysis of foundation plates in buildings

In this paper, a boundary element method for analyzing building foundation plates is presented. The shear deformation is considered using the Reissner plate theory. The Winkler model is used to model the behavior of the soil. Only the boundary of the plate needs to be discretized. Two practical appl ications are solved and the results are compared to alternative solutions o f different methods, such as, finite difference, finite element and 3D boun dary element methods. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.