Holding capacity of dynamically installed anchors in normally consolidated clay under inclined loading

Abstract

This paper describes a design framework for inclined tensile loading capacity (holding capacity) of dynamically installed anchors in soft clay. Centrifuge model test and numerical results indicate that, while ultimate inclined holding capacity increases with a loading angle smaller than 45° (to the vertical at anchor padeye), anchor failure is controlled predominantly by the ultimate vertical holding capacity, which can be predicted using the American Petroleum Institute method put forth in 2007 with interface friction ratio of 0.25–0.34 and 0.60–0.82 for short- and long-term conditions, respectively. For a loading angle larger than about 65°, anchor failure is controlled largely by the ultimate horizontal holding capacity. It is proposed herein that the ultimate lateral holding capacity can be estimated by generalizing Broms’ method put forth in 1964 for lateral anchor capacity to variable cross section; thereby allowing anchor geometry to be considered in a rational manner. Good agreement can be obtained between the estimated ultimate horizontal holding capacity and that computed using the finite element method by using a lateral resistance of 10.5su, where su is the undrained shear strength. For a loading angle between 45° and 65°, there is significant interaction between vertical and horizontal failure modes. This allows a normalized horizontal–vertical interaction curve to be defined by fitting data from this and previous studies.