Capacity of plate anchors in clay under sustained uplift

Abstract

The use of plate anchors on permanent offshore facilities with taut or semi-taut moorings requires a thorough understanding of their long-term capacity under sustained loading. In this paper, a programme of centrifuge tests and numerical simulations is reported to investigate the capacity of a plate anchor deeply embedded in normally consolidated clay during and after vertical sustained loading. Experimental data show that a sustained load higher than 85% of the ultimate monotonic anchor capacity leads to anchor failure, characterised by acceleration of anchor movement with a large accumulation of vertical displacements towards the soil surface. At sustained loads lower than 85% of the monot..