Vertical uplift resistance of a group of two strip anchors in sand from model tests

Abstract

The ultimate uplift resistance of a group of two strip anchors embedded in sand and subjected to equal magnitudes of vertical upward pullout loads has been determined by performing a series of small scale model tests. In the chosen experimental setup, by simulating the boundary conditions along the vertical plane of symmetry mid-way between the two anchor plates, a single anchor plate was employed rather than using both the anchor plates. For different combinations of embedment ratio of anchors and friction angle of soil mass, the effect of clear spacing between the two anchors, was brought out. It was clearly noted that the ultimate pullout capacity of the anchors decreases continuously with a decrease in the spacing between the anchors. The experimental results obtained in this paper were found to compare reasonably well with the available theoretical data from literature.