Pullout Capacity of Strip Anchors in Spatially Variable Soil. II: Sand
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 150, Issue 11
Abstract
Plate anchors have been recognized as an attractive option for floating offshore structures due to their low cost and high effectiveness. The prediction of anchor pullout capacity often assumes a homogeneous sand with uniform properties over the entire soil mass. However, natural soils typically exhibit significant spatial variability due to their geological history of soil formation. To account for this inherent spatial variability, this paper has proposed an analytical approach to probabilistically estimate the pullout capacity of strip plate anchors in sand. The soil friction angle was represented by a random field, and the first two moments and the probability density function of the anchor breakout factor were determined analytically using a local average theory. The proposed analytical approach was validated by the random finite-element method (RFEM) over a wide range of soil and anchor parameters. The findings suggest that the anchor embedment depth ratio has a limited effect on the estimated anchor failure probability, whereas the coefficient of variation and correlation length of the soil friction angle have a significant influence. This confirms the importance of sufficient site investigation for cost-effective and reliable anchor design. Overall, the proposed analytical framework can be regarded as a reliable and practical alternative to the computationally intensive RFEM.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 150 • Issue 11 • November 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 14, 2023
Accepted: Jun 10, 2024
Published online: Aug 21, 2024
Published in print: Nov 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Jan 21, 2025
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