Load-Carrying Mechanism of Vertical Plate Anchors in Sand
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 17, Issue 5
Abstract
An experimental study on the load-carrying mechanism of vertical plate anchors is presented and discussed. It was found that, with a shallow anchor, the rupture surface reached the ground surface, leading to a general shear failure, whereas with deeper embedment, the rupture surface was localized around the anchor. Anchors placed close to the ground surface failed in linear rupture but, when embedded within the failure mechanism, were very close to the polar curve of a logarithmic spiral, which, however, tends to be nearly circular for deeper depths of embedment. The size of rupture surface increases with an increase in density of fill soil that mobilizes higher resistance, leading to enhanced anchor capacity. The critical embedment depth beyond which the anchor breakout factor does not change much is found to be approximately 7 times the anchor height for dense soil, whereas it is approximately 5 times the anchor height for loose soil. The anchor when placed below the critical depth, settlement, and heave on the fill surface tend to be marginal.
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the financial support of a seed fund awarded to the second author by the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, under which the reported work was carried out. The authors are thankful to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments, which have enhanced the presentations in the paper.
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Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 17 • Issue 5 • May 2017
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 29, 2015
Accepted: Aug 24, 2016
Published online: Oct 5, 2016
Discussion open until: Mar 5, 2017
Published in print: May 1, 2017
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