The second order solution of Boussinesq’s problem

In this document, we have proposed a second order solution to Boussinesq’s problem (Boussinesq 1885), which allows us to account for the new experimental evidence (Ferretti & Bignozzi 2012, Ferretti 2012b) on the stress field induced by aircraft traffic in concrete pavements. In particular, the second order solution is able to describe the tensile state of stress acquired in the proximity of the contact area and not accounted for in the classical solution of Boussinesq’s problem for a homogeneous linear-elastic and isotropic half-space. The second order solution also allows us to evaluate the effect of the elastic constants on the stress field, improving the solution of Boussinesq in this second case also.