Considerations on the design of keying flap of plate anchors

One of the critical issues associated with plate anchor performance and design relates to the reduction of the loss of embedment during the keying process. As deep water offshore sediments typically exhibit an increasing soil strength with depth, the loss of embedment results in a reduction in anchor bearing capacity. A keying flap hinged to the main plate has been developed and adopted by industry with the aim to reduce the loss of embedment by limiting the vertical motion of the anchor. However, uncertainties remain regarding the behavior and the performance of the keying flap. This paper presents a series of numerical analyses performed to investigate the flap rotation mechanism and the condition of activation of the flap. They are compared with existing centrifuge modeling. The numerical results validate the centrifuge observations and demonstrate the nonactivation of the keying flap for typical anchor pull-out conditions. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.