Bell-Shaped Anchor with Geotextile Ties Embedded in Clay—A Numerical Study

A parametric numerical simulation has been carried out to study the behavior of bell-shaped anchor with and without geotextile ties within clayey soil. The study has been done with help of FEM software ABAQUS. Three types of soil and one typical model of belled anchor with diameter 0.125 m have been considered for the numerical analysis. Properties of geotextile sheets and soil mass have been studied and reported in the present work. Variation of uplift capacity with different parameters such as embedment ratios (H/D) of anchor, and cohesion of soil have also been studied. In the numerical study, weight of the soil as well as gravity has been taken into account. A sensitivity analysis and a mesh convergence study also have been performed to determine the model dimension and meshing criteria. Breakaway condition has been adopted here as no resistance is acting below the anchor against the soil mass. Both the anchor and the geotextile sheet as linear material and clay mass as elasto-plastic material have been considered in the analysis. With introduction of geotextile tie to the anchor, the uplift capacity of anchor with tie increases. Optimum value of L_g/D (Lg-diameter of geotextile sheet) is found to be 3 from the current investigation. Optimum numbers of geotextile tie layers are found to be 3 for a specific type of soil. Stress profile also has been plotted to identify the maximum stress in geotextile.