Upper-bound limit analysis of a rigid-plastic body with frictional interfaces (Q1324535)

A finite element formulation of the generalized upper-bound theorem, which can be used to obtain upper bounds in the presence of frictional interfaces, has been developed. The generalized upper-bound theorem is based on the fact that the velocity boundary condition does not need to be satisfied precisely for the upper-bound inequality to be valid. Consequently, this inequality can be applied to a wide class of problems. The relaxed inequality method is simple to use and differs little from the conventional upper-bound theorem. The new procedure has been used to quantify the effect of base friction on the bearing capacity of a rigid footing to highlight its potential for solving many practical problems of interest.