Expansion of cavities in layered elastic system

Abstract

Theoretical formulations to the problem of expansion of spherical and cylindrical cavities in a layered elastic system are presented. The medium surrounding the cavity is assumed to consist of several layers, and each is idealized as a linear elastic solid. The solutions are expressed in matrix forms and can be obtained using a programmable calculator. The developed solutions are of some importance in geomechanics. The spherical cavity solution can be used to compute the settlement of single axially loaded piles. The predicted settlement using the analysis outlined herein agrees reasonably well with one case of field measurements. The cylindrical cavity solution can be used to manifest the effect of disturbed mass at the cavity wall on the stress-strain and deformation characteristics of the intact mass.

Elastic‐plastic solutions for expanding cavities embedded in two different cohesive‐frictional materials

“…The analysis considered an incompressible material as well as the assumption of a finite locking strain and was used to solve for dynamic solutions of penetration depth and impact velocity. Sayed and Hamed were the first to apply analytical cavity expansion analyses of concentrically layered media to the field of geomechanics. However, in their analysis, the medium was assumed to be a frictionless linear‐elastic solid and did not account for the plastic behaviour of soils.…”