Abstract
This paper presents the results from numerical modeling of the keying process of plate anchors in three‐layer soft‐stiff‐soft clay deposits. Three‐dimensional large deformation finite‐element analyses were carried out, and the results were firstly validated by the centrifuge test data and the previous numerical results. The soil flow mechanism during the keying process of plate anchors was examined, and a series of parametric studies were performed to investigate the factors affecting the rotation characteristics of plate anchors with an emphasis on the presence of the interbedded stiff soil layer. The results indicate that the loss of embedment depth of plate anchors decreases with the increase of the thickness of the first soil layer when the anchor is initially located at the middle of stiff soil layer. The flow velocity of soil around the anchor that is initially embedded at the first layer and adjacent to the underlying interbedded stiff soil layer is generally larger, resulting in a smaller embedment depth loss compared with the traditional normally consolidated soil layer. The interbedded stiff soil layer affects the keying process of plate anchors embedded 1.0B above and 2.0B below the interbedded stiff soil layer (B is the width of the square plate anchors). The increase of the strength of local soil around the plate anchors leads to the increase of the embedment depth loss, but the increase of the strength of soil slightly away from the plate anchors leads to the decrease of the embedment depth loss.
Highlights
Suction embedded plate anchor is a new type of foundation for marine platform structures
The keying process of plate anchors in threelayer soft-stiff-soft clay deposits was investigated by using the Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian (CEL) approach to perform the large deformation numerical simulation. e soil flow mechanism around the plate anchors and the influence of a series of parameters of layered soil on the embedment depth loss were examined
E results were compared with those from the traditional results of normally consolidated soil. e key conclusions are as follows: (1) e influence of the thickness of the top soil layer is significant on the keying process of plate anchors buried at the middle of the interbedded stiff soil layer
Summary
Suction embedded plate anchor is a new type of foundation for marine platform structures. Song et al [20, 21] investigated the pullout capacity and rotation behaviour of the plate anchors which were initially installed vertically in homogeneous clay based on model test under 1 and 100 g conditions and numerical analysis and proposed an influence factor on the embedment loss of the vertical pulling plate anchors. Yu et al [22] discussed the influence of anchor padeye eccentricity, pullout angle, and shape of anchor on the embedment loss of plate anchors during keying by numerical simulation. Erefore, this study utilized the three-dimensional Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian (CEL) large deformation finite element analysis to investigate the keying process of plate anchors on the more complicated layered soil, i.e., the three-layer soft-stiffsoft clay deposits. In emerging provinces and fields, highly layered soils are prevalent and quite a number of stratified seabed profiles involve interbedded layers displaying strong variations in shear strength [32]. erefore, this study utilized the three-dimensional Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian (CEL) large deformation finite element analysis to investigate the keying process of plate anchors on the more complicated layered soil, i.e., the three-layer soft-stiffsoft clay deposits. e flow of soil and the embedment depth loss of plate anchors in the keying process were analyzed, and the effects of soil strengths of different layers were investigated
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