Centrifuge modelling of the monotonic capacity of offshore ring anchors in sand-Video

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Lin Hua presents centrifuge tests of ring-shaped anchors intended to reduce foundation costs for floating offshore wind farms in deep water. At 70g, eight monotonic loading tests in Ottawa F65 sand examined two embedment depths and four cable inclination angles. The tests measured force–displacement response and tensile capacity, with results compared against finite-element models.<br /><br />Anchor capacity increased with greater embedment and with more horizontal loading. The response stiffness and capacity depended on different soil-failure mechanisms: deeper anchors showed localized flow-around failure, while more horizontal loading mobilized more soil but produced a softer response. Installation disturbance substantially reduced soil density near the anchor and explained why initial numerical predictions overestimated capacity; updating the models to account for disturbance improved agreement with experiments.<br /><br />Future work will test anchors in clay while monitoring pore pressure, then investigate shared anchors in multi-line arrangements for floating wind turbines. These configurations could reduce anchor numbers and loads, though they introduce complex cyclic and multidirectional loading.

Keywords

ring-shaped anchors

centrifuge tests

floating offshore wind farms

embedment depth

soil failure mechanisms

finite-element models