2020 Volume 76 Issue 2 Pages I_492-I_497
Centrifuge model tests were carried out to investigate the behavior of suction anchors in saturated fine sandy deposits subjected to cyclic loading, in view of their use in mooring foundations for floating offshore wind turbines. Monotonic or cyclic pullout forces were applied to the wire line connected to the side wall of the cylindrical anchor. The initial pullout angles of elevation were between 15 to 25 degrees. Holding capacities obtained from monotonic pullout experiments were compared with those calculated by Deng and Carter method developed for anchors with the embedment to diameter ratio not less than unity, in order to study the applicability of the workable method to shorter anchors. The calculated capacities underestimated the measured ones by about 30 % in this study with the anchor of embedment to diameter ratio of about 0.8. In a cyclic pullout test with large amplitude of wire tension, where the tension periodically reduced to zero, we observed remarkable evolution of pullout displacement of the anchor.
