Pullout capacity of Circular Multi-plate Inclined Anchors in Sand: An Experimental Study

Abstract

A multi-plate inclined plate anchor is a structural member designed to resist the pullout forces and overturning moments, in order to ensure the stability of structures on- and off-shore. The tensile load of a structure is resisted by the inclined multi-plate anchors using the many plates connected axially along the central shaft. The inclined multi-plate anchors would be capable of generating higher pullout capacity in comparison to the inclined single-plate anchors, for an embedment depth considered. This paper presents a detailed experimental study on the estimation of the ultimate pullout capacity of inclined circular multi-plate anchors embedded in the sand. The plate anchors are inclined at 22.5°, 45° and 67.5° to the horizontal. The pullout capacity of the inclined single-plate anchors was compared with the existing studies. The dimensionless breakout factors show the multi-plate anchor replacing the existing single-plate anchors efficiently. The paper provides a brief discussion on the scale effect, the effect of spacing, the effect of inclination of the anchors on the pullout capacity. The conclusions include (a) the increase in the pullout capacity of the inclined double-plate and inclined triple-plate anchors with the increase in the embedment ratio (b) the increase in the breakout factor of the multi-plate anchors with the increase in the angle of inclination and spacing between the plates.