A fundamental solution for a plate on an elastic half‐space

Abstract This contribution deals with the development of a fundamental solution for an elastic plate supported by an elastic half‐space. The author briefly discusses problems associated with using an existing fundamental solution, and then develops an alternative solution using an approximate foundation reaction function which is obtained from the concept of equivalent thickness and Boussinesq's solution for an elastic half‐space. The singular solution can be easily incorporated into existing boundary‐element codes, and makes use of material parameters which are directly related to the material properties of each layer. An approximation to the fundamental solution is also suggested. Comparisons between approximate and exact solutions are presented, and limitations are discussed.