Quasi-static response of a layered half-space to surface loads

Abstract

The closed form expressions for the stresses caused by a two-dimensional shear line load acting on the boundary of a semi-infinite medium consisting of a homogeneous elastic layer lying over a homogeneous elastic half-space are first derived. The correspondence principle of viscoelasticity is then used to obtain the quasi-static response when the elastic half-space is replaced by a Maxwell viscoelastic half-space. Numerical calculations performed indicate that the quasi-static stresses differ significantly from the corresponding static stresses when the medium is purely elastic.