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.