Evaluation of Pullout Capacity of Embedded Suction Anchors in Uniform Clay using Numerical Analysis with ALE(Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian) Technique

Numerical analysis with ALE (Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian) Adaptive Meshing technique was performed to evaluate the pullout capacity of the embedded suction anchors (ESA) in uniform clay. The numerical method was verified by the previous study, analytical results based on limit-equilibrium theory and centrifuge tests. The pullout capacity of the ESA under horizontal, vertical, and inclined loading were evaluated, and the effect of initial rotation of the ESA on pullout capacity was also investigated. The analysis results showed that the maximum horizontal capacity was obtained at the mid-point, and the each vertical capacity gave the similar value regardless of the loading points. Furthermore, the inclined capacity was decreased as the load inclination angle increased at the mid-point of the anchor, and almost the same pullout capacity was obtained when the initial rotation angles were below 30 degrees.