Experimental and numerical study on reinforcement effect of plate anchors or flip anchors on model slopes

Abstract

Flip anchors are a kind of ground anchor that rotate and open in the ground to attain pull-out resistance without the use of grout. Compared to ordinary grouted ground anchors, flip anchors can be driven into the existing ground quickly and are suitable for the emergency reinforcement of slopes. However, little research has been done on the slope reinforcement effect of flip anchors. In this paper, experiments on a model slope reinforced by plate anchors or flip anchors were conducted. During the experiments, vertical loading with a rigid loading plate was applied to the shoulder of the model slope to investigate its stability. Experiments were firstly conducted with and without model plate anchors under a plane strain condition. Then, experiments were conducted using actual flip anchors under a three-dimensional condition. In these experiments, the depth of the anchor plates, h, and the installation state of the anchor heads of the flip anchors (open or closed anchor head condition) were varied. After the experiments, corresponding numerical simulations (FEM) were conducted, and a subloading tij model was applied to describe the soil behaviour. The numerical method used in this research successfully reproduced the reinforcing effect of the flip anchors. According to the test and calculated results, compared with the cases without reinforcement and with plate anchors, the effectiveness of the flip anchors for slope stability was verified. Moreover, the flip anchors installed under the closed anchor head condition required a larger displacement to produce a reinforcing effect than the anchors installed under the open anchor head condition.

Keywords

• Slope stability
• Plate anchor
• Flip anchor
• Model test
• FEM simulation