A Comparison of Pull-out Capacity of Suction Anchors in Clay and Sand

With the oil and gas exploitation develop to the deep sea; offshore platform under extreme environment load needs more stable anchorage foundation. Based on the slender suction anchor of SPAR, three-dimensional numerical analysis method was presented to study the ultimate pull-out capacity. Based on the geological conditions from South China Sea, clay and sand was selected as soil conditions to make a comparison analysis. The effects of soil type, load positions, load angles and aspect ratio on the ultimate bearing pull-out resistance of the suction foundation were studied. The comparison analysis results indicated that the ultimate pull-out resistance of suction anchors in sand has a greater rise rate and achieve ultimate pull-out capacity need smaller displacement than in clay; load point and load angles have a great impact on the resistance and there is a critical aspect ratio under inclined loading in sand.