DISTRIBUTION OF WHEEL LOADS

[Noopur]

Can anyone please suggest me a good reference or a book to find out factors for distributing wheel loads/point loads through earth fills??

I am designing a large underground sediment tank, which is covered by 3' soil at top (ground level). I need to know what loads will de distributed to the top of the tank (roof)if a moving load is considered. How the wheel load will be transfered through the 3' earth/soil.

Please help!

 

[Focht3]

You need a copy of Harry Poulos' and E.H. Davis' book - contains charts and graphs of various elastic solutions. It will provide at least three similar ways to address your problem. It's out of print; here's the reference:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=2XXOB65UVB&isbn=0471695653&itm=26

It's also out in paperback form now, but you will have to contact the University of Sydney to get one of those:

The University of Sydney
NSW 2006
Australia
Telephone: (02) 9351 3923
Fax: (02) 9351 3343

I have no idea what the paperback versions cost, but they're worth more than a used hardback version for one simple reason: a significant number of corrections to errors contained in the hardback version have been incorporated into the work.

Good luck!

 

[SirAl]

The actual wheel loads imposed at the ground surface will depend upon the type of vehicle, the weight, axle configuration, etc. If it is a street or highway, I believe that AASHTO in the U.S. or RTAC in Canada can provide truck loading extremes that would include axle weights, and configurations. Off road equipment loading conditions can be derived from the specification literature from the equipment manufacturer. Once you have determined the vehicle loading condition, you can use Westergaard and Boussinesq stress distibution methods to analyze how these loads are dispersed vertically. These are classical methods that are covered in most geotechnical engineering text books. A computer program such as Unisettle by Unisoft is a convenient tool.