Numerical Investigation of a Novel Caisson-Plate Gravity Anchor Under Combined V-H-M Loading in Clay

Abstract Floating wind power is currently at the forefront of offshore wind development. To reduce the total cost of mooring system and promote the efficiency of floating wind farms towards large-scale commercial applications, a novel caisson-plate gravity anchor (CGA) has been proposed and designed. This study evaluated the bearing performance of CGA under vertical, horizontal, and moment uniaxial and combined loads in clay. First, finite element models were established and validated under the different loadings. Then, the failure mechanisms of CGA in different uniaxial loads were analyzed compared with suction caissons, which proved the improvement of CGA. It is found that the uniaxial ultimate bearing capacity of the CGA shows a significant improvement over that of the suction caisson, especially in the horizontal and moment directions. Furthermore, the impact of different levels of vertical loads on uniaxial bearing capacity and H-M envelopes was analyzed. The general analytical forms of the three-dimensional V-H-M combined load envelopes for both CGA and suction caisson were provided. The conclusions of this study can provide valuable insights for the shared mooring applications of CGA in floating wind farms.