An experimental study of the embedment of a dynamically installed anchor in sand

This paper presents a novel dynamically installed anchor concept suitable for sand. The anchor, referred to as the DPAIII, uses a thin ‘blade-like’ design to reduce bearing resistance during penetration, and comprises a lower plate attached to an upper removable follower. The anchor is installed through the kinetic energy it gains during free-fall in water. After embedment, the upper follower is removed leaving the lower plate anchor vertically embedded in the sand. This paper examines the embedment potential of the DPAIII through centrifuge tests conducted at 100 g in both loose and dense sand, using a model DPA III with different follower masses, impacting the model sand bed at two different velocities. The centrifuge tests show promising results, with anchor tip embedment in the range of 0.9 to 2.2 times the lower plate length. The tip embedment is found to be a function of the soil relative density, anchor mass and impact velocity.