Analytical study on comprehensive behaviors of drag anchors in the seabed

Attributed to good performance in the seabed, drag anchors are adopted as an effective anchoring solution in deepwater mooring systems. This type of anchors is drag installed, companying with comprehensive behaviors during movement of the anchor in the seabed, which make the anchor trajectory and therefore the final embedment position difficult to be predicted. On the basis of the mechanical model and analytical procedure, an analytical method is proposed for exploring comprehensive behaviors of drag anchors in both clay and sand. The anchor behaviors are classified as keying, pulling out and diving. The bearing capacity and the trajectory of the anchor can be predicted through the combination of the three behaviors. By comparing analytical predictions with experimental data and other predictions, the efficiency and veracity of the theoretical model are validated. A parametric study is also performed to investigate the effects of different parameters, and to further understand the comprehensive anchor behaviors in the seabed. The present work provides an efficient theoretical tool for analyzing comprehensive behaviors of drag anchors in either clayey or sandy seabed.     

An Analytical Method for Positioning Drag Anchors in Seabed Soils

Positioning drag anchors in seabed soils are strongly influenced not only by the properties of the anchor and soil,but also by the characteristics of the installation line.The investigation on the previous prediction methods related to anchor positioning demonstrates that the prediction of the anchor position during dragging has inevitably introduced some key and unsubstantiated hypotheses and the applicability of these methods is limited.In the present study,the interactional system between the drag anchor and installation line is firstly introduced for the analysis of anchor positioning.Based on the two mechanical models for embedded lines and drag anchors,the positioning equations for drag anchors have been derived both for cohesive and noncohesive soils.Since the drag angle at the shackle is the most important parameter in the positioning equations,a novel analytical method that can predict both the variation and the exact value of the drag angle at the shackle is proposed.The analytical method for positioning drag anchors which combines the interactional system between the drag anchor and the installation line has provided a reasonable theoretic approach to investigate the anchor behaviors in soils.By comparing with the model flume experiments,the sensitivity,effectiveness and veracity of the positioning method are well verified.     

Numerical implementation of the installation/mooring line and application to analyzing comprehensive anchor behaviors

With the application of innovative anchor concepts and advanced technologies in deepwater moorings, anchor behaviors in the seabed are becoming more complicated and pose a great challenge to the analytical methods. In the present work, a large deformation finite element (FE) analysis employing the coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian technique is performed to simulate the installation/mooring line, and then is applied to analyzing comprehensive anchor behaviors in the seabed. By connecting cylindrical units with each other using connector elements, the installation/mooring line is constructed. With the constructed installation/mooring line, FE simulations are carried out to investigate comprehensive anchor behaviors in the seabed, including long-distance penetration of drag anchors, keying of suction embedded plate anchors and non-catastrophic behavior of gravity-installed anchors. Through comparative studies, the accuracy of the proposed method is well examined. A parametric study is also undertaken to quantify the effects of the frictional coefficient, initial embedment depth, and soil weight on the profile of the embedded anchor line and the shackle load. The present work demonstrates that the proposed FE model, which incorporates the installation/mooring line and the anchor, is effective in analyzing the comprehensive anchor behaviors in the seabed.     

An efficient approach to incorporate anchor line effects into the coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian analysis of comprehensive anchor behaviors

With the application of innovative anchor concepts and advanced technologies in deepwater moorings, anchor behaviors in the seabed are becoming more complicated and significantly affected by the anchor line. Based on the coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) method, a numerical approach incorporating anchor line effects is developed to investigate comprehensive anchor behaviors in the soil, including penetration of drag anchors, keying of suction embedded plate anchors and diving of gravity installed anchors. Compared to the method directly incorporating the anchor line into the CEL analysis, the proposed method is computationally efficient. To examine the robustness and accuracy of the proposed method, numerical probe tests and then comparative studies are carried out. It is found that the penetration (or diving) and keying behaviors of anchors can be well simulated. A parametric study is also undertaken to quantify the effects of various factors on the behavior of OMNI-Max anchors, whose mechanisms are not yet fully understood. The maximum embedment loss of OMNI-Max anchors during keying is not influenced by the initial anchor embedment depth, whereas significantly increases with increasing drag angle at the embedment point. With decreasing initial anchor embedment depth or increasing soil strength gradient, drag angle at the embedment point and diameter of the anchor line, the behavior of OMNI-Max anchors could change from diving to pullout, which is undesirable in offshore engineering practice. If the drag angle increases over a certain limit, the anchor will fail similar to a suction anchor.     

拖曳锚在海床中运动特性的大变形有限元分析

拖曳锚由于其承载性能和深水中便于安装被广泛应用于海洋工程系泊系统中,如:适用于悬链式系泊系统的传统拖曳锚和适用于绷紧式系泊系统的法向承力锚。拖曳锚安装过程中涉及诸多运动特性:锚板运动方向、系缆点处拖曳力和拖曳角及运动轨迹。基于大变形有限元分析技术耦合的欧拉-拉格朗日法,并引入缆绳方程,建立起锚-缆绳-海床土耦合作用的有限元分析模型;模拟了拖曳锚在均质和线性强度黏土中的嵌入安装过程,研究了锚板运动方向、系缆点处拖曳力和拖曳角及运动轨迹等运动特性;通过与已有的有限元分析方法及理论方法进行对比,验证了该分析模型的有效性;与已有的有限元分析方法相比,提出的分析模型有效地提高了计算效率。     

Reverse catenary equation of the embedded installation line and application to the kinematic model for drag anchors

The penetration behavior and trajectory of the drag anchor in seabed soils are not only determined by properties of the anchor and soil, but also controlled by the installation line especially the segment embedded in the soil. Correctly understanding and describing reverse catenary properties of the embedded line are crucial for improving the drag embedment performance, precisely predicting the anchor trajectory, and solving the positioning problem in offshore applications. The investigation on reverse catenary problems demonstrates that, the reverse catenary shape of the embedded line has to be solved almost through numerical incremental methods. In the present study, based on the mechanical model for the embedded line, the relationship between the tension and geometry of the embedded line, and the interactional equation between the anchor and embedded line are derived. By introducing the concept of the initial embedment depth of the installation line, the reverse catenary equation and the expression for calculating the length of the embedded line are obtained for soils with a linear strength, and the position of the embedment point can be reasonably solved through the derived reverse catenary equation. The reverse catenary equation is then introduced into the kinematic model for drag anchors, which combines the drag anchor, the installation line and the movement of the anchor handling vessel being an interactional system. More information related to the drag embedment problem can be definitely gained through the present work, including not only the anchor behaviors such as the trajectory, penetration direction and ultimate embedment depth, but also the properties of the installation line for both the embedded and horizontal segments. By comparing with drum centrifuge tests and model flume experiments, the efficiency of the theoretical method for predicting the anchor trajectory is well verified.     

Toward a quick evaluation of the performance of gravity installed anchors in clay: Penetration and keying

Gravity installed anchors (GIAs) are the most recent generation of anchoring solutions to moor floating facilities for deepwater oil and gas developments. Challenges associated with GIAs include predicting the initial embedment depth and evaluating the keying performance of the anchor. The former involves high soil strain rate due to large anchor penetration velocity, while the later influences the subsequent behavior and pullout capacity of the anchor. With the coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian method, three-dimensional large deformation finite element models are established to investigate the penetration and keying of GIAs in non-homogeneous clay. In the penetration model, a modified Tresca soil model is adopted to allow the effects of soil strain rate and strain softening, and user-defined hydrodynamic drag force and frictional resistance are introduced via concentrated forces. In the keying model, the anchor line effects are incorporated through a chain equation, and the keying, diving and pulling out behaviors of the anchor can all be replicated. Parametric studies are undertaken at first to quantify the effects of various factors on the performance of GIAs, especially on the penetration and keying behaviors. Based on the results of parametric studies, fitted formulae are proposed to give a quick evaluation of the anchor embedment depth after the installation, and the shackle horizontal displacement, shackle embedment loss and anchor inclination at the end of the keying. Comparative studies are also performed to verify the effectiveness of the fitted formulae.     

深水系泊新型拖曳锚研发关键技术

作为深海工程应用中一种新型的拖曳嵌入式系泊基础,法向承力锚与目前新型的深水绷紧索系泊方式结合,在深水条件下的优势非常明显.综合比较了新型拖曳锚、吸力锚以及桩锚在施工、性能以及经济性等多方面的特点.提出了开展新型拖曳锚研发的若干关键技术.在对国外的实验研究现状进行综合评述的基础上,重点介绍了在构建新型拖曳锚模型实验平台方面取得的成果,涉及模型水槽、拖曳与回收系统、测量系统、模型锚板设计以及拖曳-系泊转换机构等关键技术.     

Behavior of drag anchor in clay with linearly increasing shear strength under unidirectional and combined loading

Drag anchor is a widely used economical anchor option for offshore floating structures. The anchor behavior under unidirectional loading and combined loading is important for anchor selection. The anchor behavior under combined loading, characterized by the yield envelope, can also be used for the prediction of anchor installation, which is still an issue in anchor design. However, most existing studies on anchor capacity are for plate anchors which focused only on the anchor pullout capacity in soil with uniform shear strength. The behavior of drag anchor under unidirectional and combined loading in soil with linearly increasing shear strength profile is seldom investigated. The current 2D finite element studies investigate the anchor behavior for a horizontal anchor fluke in clay with linearly increasing shear strength under unidirectional vertical, horizontal and rotational loadings first. Then based on the results of anchor unidirectional loading behavior, the yield envelopes for anchor under combined loading for both shallow and deep embedded flukes are studied. The effect of anchor embedment depth, soil non- homogeneity, soil overburden pressure and the soil/anchor interface breakaway conditions are studied to provide insight for drag anchor design.     

Two-Dimensional Large Deformation Finite Element Analysis for the Pulling-up of Plate Anchor

Based on mesh regeneration and stress interpolation from an old mesh to a new one, a large deformation finite element model is developed for the study of the behaviour of circular plate anchors subjected to uplift loading. For the deterruination of the distributions of stress components across a clay foundation, the Recovery by Equilibrium in Patches is extended to plastic analyses. ABAQUS, a commercial finite element package, is customized and linked into our program so as to keep automatic and efficient running of large deformation calculation. The quality of stress interpolation is testified by evaluations of Tresca stress and nodal reaction forces. The complete pulling-up processes of plate anchors buried in homogeneous clay arc simulated, and typical pulling force-displacement responses of a deep anchor and a shallow anchor are compared. Different from the results of previous studies, large deformation analysis is of the capability of estimating the breakaway between the anchor bottom and soils. For deep anchors, the variation of mobilized uplift resistance with anchor settlement is composed of three stages, and the initial buried depths of anchors affect the separation embedment slightly. The uplift bearing capacity of deep anchors is usually higher than that of shallow anchors.     

Evaluation of the uplift behavior of plate anchor in structured marine clay

The uplift behavior of a plate anchor in a structured clay (soft Ariake clay) is investigated through a series of laboratory tests and method of finite element analysis. The tests are adopted to identify the factors influencing the behavior of the anchor, including the thixotropic nature of Ariake clay, consolidation time, and embedment ratio of the anchor. A finite element method (FEM) is used to analyze and predict the uplift behavior of the anchor plate well in the elastic region and the yield load. The results from both the laboratory tests and the FEM analysis suggest that the embedment ratio for a deep anchor in Ariake clay is close to 4. Further increase in embedment ratio improves the capacity to a lesser extent. FEM overestimates the failure load of the uplift anchor in soft Ariake clay by about 20%. This may be ascribed to the hypothesis in the FEM analysis that there is continuous contact between the clay and the anchor until failure. Vesic’s theory for deep anchors, which may be used to predict the ultimate pullout resistance of the plate anchor in reconstituted Ariake clay, is verified to be applicable. In this paper, the plastic flow zone around the anchor is discussed using FEM which makes the behavior of anchor more understandable during the design stage.     

Behavior of underwater suction anchor in soil

To study the feasibility and efficiency of underwater suction anchors in soil, the performance of eight model anchors was evaluated in a 30 in. (76·2 cm) by 72 in. (183·0 cm) by 32 in. (81·3 cm) deep test tank. The soil studied were a medium fine sand, a silt and a clay. A gantry-type loading mechanisms was used to apply the vertical breakout force. A pullout rate of approximately 0·1 in/min (0·25 cm/min) was used for all tests.For the range of conditions studied, the test results indicate that the underwater suction anchor is feasible and effective. The breakout behavior of the suction anchors depends upon the anchor geometry including anchor diameter and skirt length, soil strength properties, soil-anchor friction and adhesion, and suction; i.e. the difference between the pressure underneath the porous plate and the ambient pressure. For the anchors and soils tested, the anchor capacity increases linearly with increasing suction provided the anchor skirt length to diameter ratio remains constant. An increase in the anchor capacity results with increasing suction and with increasing internal friction angle of the test soils. To study the results suggest that the underwater suction anchor is particularly useful for short-term anchorage.     

Anchors in sand bed: delineation of rupture surface

Anchors of very large uplift capacities are required to support offshore structures at great water depths. The capacities of plate and mushroom type anchors are generally estimated based on the shape of rupture surface. An attempt has been made in the present investigation to delineate the rupture surfaces of anchors embedded in submerged and dry sand beds at various depths. The results exhibited two different modes of failure depending on the embedment ratio, namely, shallow and deep anchor behaviour. The load–displacement curves exhibited three- and two-phase behaviours for shallow and deep anchors, respectively. Negative pore water pressures recorded in submerged sand also exhibited variation similar to that of pullout load versus anchor displacement.     

Pullout capacity of embedded suction anchors in sand

An analytical solution has been developed to estimate the horizontal, vertical, and inclined loading pullout capacities of embedded suction anchors in sand. Validation of the analytical solution on pullout capacities has been made through comparisons with the centrifuge model test results. Primary variables for the centrifuge model tests are the depth to the loading point, the load inclination angle, and the addition of flanges. The results indicate that both the horizontal and vertical pullout capacities of the embedded suction anchor in sand increase, reach the peak and then start to decrease as the loading point moves downward. The inclined loading pullout capacity is very much dependent on the load inclination angle and the loading point. The effect of flanges on the pullout capacities is also found to be significant.     

Behavior of a helical anchor under vertical repetitive loading

Abstract

In the field of ocean engineering, anchors are used for several purposes. This article studies the behavior of a helical anchor embedded in soft marine clay under vertical repetitive loading. Helical anchors are simple steel shafts to which one or more helical plates are attached at regular intervals. The tests are conducted on a model helical anchor installed in a soft marine clay bed prepared in a test tank. Repetitive loading is applied using a pneumatic loading arrangement. Different cyclic load ratios and time periods are adopted. In each test, after the application of repetitive loading, poststatic‐pullout tests are conducted to observe the effect of repetitive loading on anchor behavior. From the test results, it is found that, up to a cyclic load ratio of 55%, there is no reduction in capacity. Instead, there seems to be a marginal increase in capacity and reduction in displacement. The reasons for this behavior are explained in terms of induced changes in strength and deformation behavior of marine clay under repetitive load. However, at higher cyclic load ratios, there seems to be reduction in pullout capacity of the anchor, and the reason for this is explained in terms of strain criteria. From this investigation, it can be concluded that the deep anchor is more suitable to a marine environment than a shallow anchor.     

Centrifuge tests on installation of suction anchors in soft clay

Three centrifuge model tests were performed in normally consolidated Speswhite Kaolin to study the penetration of suction anchors in soft clay. The suction anchors could be penetrated by means of underpressure to a depth of about 12.4 to a little more than 14.5 times the diameter. When the anchors were penetrated by underpressure, all clay displaced by the skirt moved into the anchor. At a penetration depth of about half the maximum penetration depth, the volume of the soil heave inside the anchor actually increased more than the volume of the displaced clay. When a material coefficient of 1.5 against plug failure was mobilized, more than the clay displaced by the skirts had accumulated inside the anchor. The penetration resistance increased by 42 and 26% during rest periods of 4.5 and 0.8 days prototype time, respectively. Some uncertainty in the shear strength of the clay beds gave some uncertainty with respect to the interpretation, but the observed behaviour generally confirmed the theoretical analyses.     

Numerical analysis of suction embedded plate anchors in structured clay

As offshore energy developments move towards deeper water, moored floating production facilities are increasingly preferred to fixed structures. Anchoring systems are therefore of great interest to engineers working on deep water developments. Suction embedded plate anchors (SEPLAs) are rapidly becoming a popular solution, possessing a more accurate and predictable installation process compared to traditional alternatives. In this paper, finite element analysis has been conducted to evaluate the ultimate pullout capacity of SEPLAs in a range of post-keying configurations. Previous numerical studies of anchor pullout capacity have generally treated the soil as an elastic-perfectly plastic medium. However, the mechanical behaviour of natural clays is affected by inter-particle bonding, or structure, which cannot be accounted for using simple elasto-plastic models. Here, an advanced constitutive model formulated within the kinematic hardening framework is used to accurately predict the degradation of structure as an anchor embedded in a natural soft clay deposit is loaded to its pullout capacity. In comparison with an idealised, non-softening clay, the degradation of clay structure due to plastic strains in the soil mass results in a lower pullout capacity factor, a quantity commonly used in design, and a more complex load–displacement relationship. It can be concluded that clay structure has an important effect on the pullout behaviour of plate anchors.     

Numerical investigation on the penetration of gravity installed anchors by a coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian approach

Gravity installed anchors (GIAs) are released from a height of 30–150 m above the seabed, achieving velocities up to 19–35 m/s at the seabed, and embed to depths of 1.0–2.4 times the anchor length. Challenges associated with GIAs include the prediction of anchor initial embedment depth, which determines the holding capacity of the anchor. Based on the coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian approach, a numerical framework is proposed in this paper to predict the embedment depth of GIAs, considering the effects of soil strain rate, soil strain-softening and hydrodynamic drag (modeled using a concentrated force), with the anchor-soil friction described appropriately. GIAs are influenced by the hydrodynamic drag before penetrating into the soil completely, hence the anchor accelerates less than the previous investigations in shallow penetration, even decelerates directly at the terminal impact velocity. The hydrodynamic drag has more influence on OMNI-Max anchors (with an error of ∼4.5%) than torpedo anchors, and the effect becomes more significant with increasing impact velocity. An extensive parametric study is carried out by varying the impact velocity, strain rate and strain-softening parameters, frictional coefficient, and soil undrained shear strength. It is concluded that the dominant factor affecting the penetration is the soil undrained shear strength, then are the impact velocity, strain rate dependency and frictional coefficient, and the minimal is the strain-softening of soil. In addition, although the strain rate dependency is partly compensated by the softening, the anchor embedment depth accounting for the effects of strain rate and strain-softening is lower than that for ideal Tresca soil. Strain rate dependency dominates the combined effects of strain rate and strain-softening in the dynamic installation of GIAs, on which should pay more attention, especially for the calibration of the related parameters and the measured solutions. In the end, the theoretical model based on the bearing resistance method is extended by accounting for the hydrodynamic drag effect.     

Loading performance of fish and OMNI-Max anchors in crust-over-soft clays

This paper reports the results from three-dimensional dynamic finite element analysis undertaken to provide insight into the behaviour of the fish and OMNI-max dynamically installed anchors during loading in crust-over-soft clay sediments. Particular attention was focused on the situations where the anchor is embedded to a shallow depth during dynamic installation due to the strong crust layer. Large deformation finite element analyses were carried out using the coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian approach, incoporating the anchor chain effect. Parametric analyses were undertaken varying the initial embedment depth, anchor shape, loading angle, strength ratio between the top and bottom layers. The tracked anchor trajectory confirmed that the diving potential of the fish and OMNI-Max anchors were enhanced by the presence of the crust layer as that somewhat restircted the upward movement. This will be beneficial for many hydrocarbon active regions with layered seabed sediments where the anchor embedment depths during dynamic installation are expected to be low.     

板翼动力锚沉贯深度模型试验研究

板翼动力锚是依靠自重完成安装并靠自重和海床土的抗力来锚固的新型动力锚。板翼动力锚高速(15~25 m/s)贯入地基过程中涉及到高应变率、流固耦合、土体软化和大变形等难题,模型试验可避免上述计算困难,能直接得出不同的贯入速度所对应的沉贯深度。本文首先推导了模型相似关系,然后在常规重力条件下,进行了两组26个工况的板翼动力锚在均质黏土中动力安装过程的模型试验,根据试验结果确定了率效应参数的取值范围,并研究了每一项受力对沉贯深度的影响。最后提出了在均质黏土中预测板翼动力锚沉贯深度的经验公式。