Influence of anchor geometry and soil properties on numerical modeling of drag anchor behavior in soft clay

摘要

In recent years an increase in application of numerical models for offshore anchoring analysis is seen. While this is common for suction and driven piles, for drag embedment anchors this is a relatively new development. Various different analysis methods have been developed for drag embedment anchors, with the anchor and / or soil being modeled either simple or complex. In this paper a new method for drag embedment anchor analysis is presented and used to analyze the effect of using anchor models of different complexities. In addition the effect of different values of the clay sensitivity on the anchor behavior is evaluated. It is found that the difference between simple and complex models can be significant and that increasing the complexity of the anchor model beyond a certain point will not provide a better result. In addition the results show that in soft clays the soil sensitivity is an important parameter in analyzing the anchor behavior, as the shearing forces on the anchor decrease with increasing soil sensitivity.