Force‐Displacement Behavior of Flexible Plate Anchors

Abstract

Current methods for designing spread (plate) anchors do not take the plate flexibility into account. In this paper, an experimental and theoretical investigation of the influence of plate flexibility on the force‐displacement behavior of shallow spread anchors when subjected to uplifting is described. A flexible plate anchor has lower capacity than a rigid one for the same upward displacement. However, the ultimate uplift capacity may be higher for a flexible plate anchor, but this increased capacity requires larger displacement to develop. A method of analysis of flexible plate anchors that models the soil surrounding the anchor as a Winkler foundation is proposed. A non‐dimensional graph that relates the relative capacity of a circular plate anchor to its flexibility is introduced. The theoretical solution shows good agreement with the experimental results. Kulhawy's method can be used to predict the behavior of rigid plate anchors. The influence of installation technique and degree of compaction on anchor behavior is also investigated.