Evaluation of the uplift capacity of plate anchors in saturated clay is an important aspect in offshore anchoring of various structures. In most of the literature reviewed, a constitutive model such as Tresca or Mohr-Coulomb has been used in analyses. There exists a need to study the anchors’ pull out capacity using other advanced soil models and discern differences in results.

This study presents the results of finite element simulation of a rectangular or circular plate anchor in saturated clay. The capacity factors (Nc) of the plate are assessed through the application of displacement control approach and the results are compared to the lower bound solution as well as to data obtained from similar studies available in the literature.

In addition to Mohr-Coulomb model, two other constitutive models are used to represent the soil deformation. These are Modified Cam-Clay, and Soft Soil models. Undrained effective stress analyses are conducted using the computer program PLAXIS. A series of analyses using different embedment depths are performed for all three constitutive models. Results as Nq value from the three constitutive models are presented and discussed.

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