Experimental Study on Uplift Behavior of Two-Plate Horizontal Anchors in Sand

An experimental study on sand deformation around two-plate anchors connected to one shaft was conducted by using the digital image correlation technique to investigate load-displacement response and deformation fields in various embedment depth, plate spacing, and relative density configurations. A test setup comprising a camera, loading frame, and computer was developed to measure the uplifting load and displacement and to capture pictures during anchor uplifting. The uplift load of the top and bottom plates was observed to be characterized by asynchrony and a "relay" phenomenon. The deformation fields between the top and bottom plates also illustrated the "relay" phenomenon. Based on the experimental results, three failure models (shallow, deep, and composite failure) are proposed to describe the degree and the extent of soil shear mobilization around the two-plate anchors.