Numerical and experimental analysis of the extraction mechanism of an anchor plate embedded in saturated sand

Journal
Computers and geotechnics  
Volume
111
Start Page
191
End Page
201
Citation
Computers and Geotechnics (111): 191-201 (2019-07)
Publisher DOI
10.1016/j.compgeo.2019.03.014
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85063491385
Floating offshore structures can be founded on submerged foundations such as anchor plates. Their extraction resistance is of major importance during and at the end of the lifetime cycle. During their lifetime cycle, the foundation is suspended to complex loading conditions due to waves, tidal currents and wind loads and its resistance has to be known. At the end of the lifetime cycle, the anchor plates have to be removed from the seabed. The extraction resistance of the anchors is thereby a lot higher than the sum of its self-weight and hydrostatic and earth pressure. When the anchor plate is moved, the volume underneath increases. This leads to a suction until inflowing pore water fills the newly created volume. In order to investigate this effect, an experimental study at model scale with a displacement-driven extraction is performed. Pore pressure measurements are carried out at various locations in the soil body and underneath the plate. The soil movement is tracked with the particle image velocimetry method (PIV). In the conducted experiments different extraction velocities are considered to investigate its effect on the extraction resistance. Numerical investigations with unresolved coupled CFD-DEM are carried out and validated against the experimental results.