Evaluation of the Capacity of Deployable Granular Anchors in Sands

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Soil penetration is a common process in civil infrastructure applications such as in-situ testing or sensor installation for monitoring soils. Challenges arise in sites with limited accessibility or stiff layers due to the inability to mobilize rigs with the reaction mass required to reach desired depths. This research evaluates the feasibility of using bio-inspired probes with deployable granular anchors to generate required reaction forces. The conceptual anchor consists of a flexible membrane filled with a granular material, connected to an air pressure/suction source. Pressure is used to radially deploy the anchor, while suction is applied to increase the granular materials strength and stiffness during anchorage. This research uses analytical solutions to evaluate the variation of anchor capacity with depth in sands, considering failure of the external soil mass and of the internal granular material as the limiting conditions. Solutions for uplift capacity of circular plate anchors and cavity expansion are used to determine the capacity of the surrounding soil mass and within the anchor. The anchor capacity is the minimum of these two capacities, which is shown to depend on the anchor expansion magnitude, operation, and applied suction. Results show that the granular anchor can mobilize the soil resistance or a significant portion of it, depending on the anchor operation, making it a feasible solution for deploying temporary anchors in-situ.

2025 International Conference on Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (ICBBG2025)

General session: Bio-inspired methods for subsurface exploration and excavation