Pullout Capacity of a Vertical Plate Anchor Embedded in Cohesion-less Soil

Abstract

In this paper, the ultimate pullout capacity of a shallow laid vertical plate strip anchor in cohesion-less soil is analyzed with the consideration of active and passive states of limit equilibrium in the soil. Kotter’s equation is used to compute the active and passive thrusts, which are subsequently used in the analysis in which, all the equation of equilibrium are properly interpreted. The unique failure surfaces under active and passive states of limit equilibrium are identified on the basis of force equilibrium conditions. One distinguishing feature of the proposed method is its ability to compute the point of application of active/passive thrust using moment equilibrium. Another distinguishing feature is the prediction of distribution of soil reactions on the failure surface. Comparison of the results of the proposed method with the available experimental results vis-a-vis other theoretical methods shows that, up-to embedment ratio of 3.0, the proposed method is capable of making reasonably good predictions.