A limit analysis of the ultimate pullout capacity of a shallow horizontal strip anchor plate embedded in slope

Abstract

Aiming at calculating the ultimate pullout capacity of a shallow horizontal strip anchor plate embedded in complicated topographical regions, e.g., mountainous areas, a kinematic admissible velocity field of the curved failure mechanism is constructed for the shallow horizontal strip anchor plate embedded in slope, based on the upper bound limit analysis theorem, the nonlinear Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion as well as the associated flow rules. The ultimate pullout force and failure mechanism are deduced using the variation minimum principle. Influences of the inclination angle and embedded depth on the ultimate pullout force are discussed in detail. The results show that the ultimate pullout force of the anchor plate decreases with the increasing inclination angle and the failure planes of the above ground are no longer symmetrical with an obvious shifting to the down side of the slope. Along with the increasing embedded depth, the ultimate pullout force of the anchor plate increases with a larger failure scope of the above ground. The inclination angle has a greater impact on the ultimate pullout force of the anchor plate with a smaller embedded depth. This effect should be taken into account for reasonably characterizing the ultimate bearing feature of a shallow horizontal strip anchor plate embedded in slope.