Pullout behaviour of inclined shallow plate anchors in sand

This paper presents an experimental study on the pullout behaviour of inclined shallow plate anchors subjected to axial pull in sand. The 1g model tests were performed to examine the effects of anchor inclination and sand–anchor interface conditions on the load–displacement response and the associated failure and deformation mechanisms of plate anchors at various embedment ratios and sand densities. The anchor pullout capacity was found to increase continuously with the load inclination angle to the vertical (α), and the increase was more significant for α from 45° to 90°. The effect of sand–anchor interface conditions was negligible for horizontal plate anchors (α = 0°), but it became increasingly significant at larger inclination angles. The effects of these two factors both decreased with an increasing embedment ratio. Their influences on the failure and deformation mechanisms were measured and analysed using a digital image correlation (DIC) technique. Based on the test data and results available in the literature, a simple empirical method for the prediction of pullout resistance of inclined plate anchors in sand is calibrated and recommended.