The project objectives are to (1) determine the currently available best practices for analysis and design of suction caisson anchors (SCA’s) and vertically loaded anchors (VLA’s) including drag embedment anchors, and (2) effect improvements in the installation and capacity predictions for SCA’s and VLA’s.
The overall research program for investigating anchor performance includes single experimental model tests, finite element analyses, and developing simplified design tools for practitioners. The TAMU researchers (PI’s Aubeny and Murff) focused on simplified design tools for estimating the ultimate pullout capacity of anchors.
PROGRESS AND RESULTS – SUCTION ANCHORS General Methodology
The general framework for development of the simplified formulations discussed herein is plastic limit analysis (PLA). PLA formulations can include upper and lower bound solutions. This research largely utilized an upper bound approach involving:
- Postulating a kinematically admissible collapse mechanism.
- Computing the rate of internal energy dissipation associated with that mechanism.
- Equating the rate of internal energy dissipation to the rate of work due to externally applied loads to determine an upper bound estimate of load capacity.
- Systematically optimizing the collapse mechanism to obtain a least upper bound estimate of load capacity.
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