Design and performance of a model scale plate anchor instrumented with an excess pore pressure transducer for whole-life centrifuge modelling

Publication Title
Design and performance of a model scale plate anchor instrumented with an excess pore pressure transducer for whole-life centrifuge modelling

Abstract

Anchoring systems supporting floating offshore renewable energy (ORE) facilities experience variable loads over the facility lifetime which can change the geotechnical properties of the surrounding soil and the capacity and response of the anchoring system. In normally and lightly overconsolidated fine-grained soils, beneficial consolidation effects from the dissipation of excess pore pressures generated from loading is a key mechanism in whole-life analysis. Beneficial consolidation effects can lead to increases in strength and stiffness of the soil, resulting in increases in anchor capacity and reductions in the required design anchor size. To enable local measurement of the build-up and dissipation of excess pore water pressure around deeply embedded plate anchors, as a result of whole-life loading, a bespoke model plate anchor instrumented with a pore water pressure transducer, has been designed and manufactured in collaboration with MSMT Solutions.

This paper describes the design of the instrumented model plate anchor and its initial validation for future use in 1-g and high-g environments in measuring the build-up and dissipation of excess pore water pressure around the plate anchor when embedded in normally consolidated fine-grained soils. This initial validation demonstrates the prototype capability of detecting small changes in pore pressure, and the resulting dissipation.

Authors
Jorge Mendoza-Ulloa; Katherine Kwa; David White; Henning Mohr

Published In

11th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ICPMG2026)

Theme

Session 1: New facilities, new equipment, and measuring techniques