Study of Failure Modes of Suction Anchors
Suction foundations are widely used in deep sea and their ultimate bearing capacity which is closely related with failure modes of suction anchor at limit equilibrium state is a key technology in offshore engineering practice. Based on Coulomb friction theory, an exact finite element model is presented in this paper. On the basis of this FEM model, by use of the finite element analysis software ABAQUS, the effect of mooring point and aspect ratio of a suction anchor on the ultimate bearing capacity and its stability are researched in detail. The results show that the ultimate bearing capacity and stability of the suction anchor are affected vastly by the position of mooring point, and the variation of mooring point on the suction anchor can lead to different failure modes. Simultaneously, the results also shows that tilted rotation of the soil along the direction of the mooring force will occur when the mooring point is near the top of the suction anchor, and the soil near the bottom of the fixed anchor rotates around the center of a circle, so the failure mode is called forward-tilted rotation in this paper; A general translation slip of the soil in front of the anchor along the direction of the mooring force will occur when mooring point is below midpoint of suction anchor, so the failure mode is called the translation slip failure mode in this paper. Anticlockwise tilted rotation of the soil along the direction of mooting force will occur when the mooring point is near the bottom of the anchor, and the soil at the top of the anchor rotates around the center of a circle, so the failure mode is called backward-tilted rotation in this paper.