Prestressed Ground Anchors

Construction Technology 463

(Based on Notes by Mohamed Shahin 2008)

Content
Function of Ground Anchors Application to Civil Engineering Anchor Groups and Types Stability and Design of Ground Anchors Worked Example

Function of Ground Anchors

Ground anchor is a way to improve the overall stability and interaction of soil soilstructure system Ground anchor system consists of a steel tendon inserted into ground through borehole in any direction. The system generates the load carrying capacity by load-carrying stressing the tendon, which is anchored by a specially formed anchorage zone.
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Function of Ground Anchors

Prestressing force Anchor head Load distribution plate Anchored structure
Primary grout Ground surface

Main components of ground anchor: Anchor head, Free length and Fixed length
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Application to Civil Engineering

The use of ground anchorages can be traced back to the last century. It was originally used to support canal banks l b k along L d Bi i h London-Birmingham railway i 1874 b il in by Frazer. First most impressive application was by Coyne in 1934 on the strengthening of the Cheurfas dam in Algeria, using 1000-ton capacity anchor @ 3.5m to stabilise the gravity dam made of masonry! Since then, development has been made on drilling technology, anchorages technology anchorages, tendon material monitoring material, techniques and field-test and evaluation methods. The system is designed, installed and monitored to sustain its performance and to provide protection against corrosion attack.
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Application to Civil Engineering

Application to Civil Engineering

Application to Civil Engineering

Application to Civil Engineering

Application to Civil Engineering

Anchor head details In-situ example of prestressed ground anchor

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Use of Single Bore Multiple Anchors in Natchez, Mississippi where high load anchors founded in loess provided overall stability of soil nailed slope (Civil Engineering ASCE December 1997) http://www.sbmasystems.com/anchorman/pdfs/GATP12.pdf
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Anchor Groups
Anchorages can be grouped into 3 main categories in t t i i terms of ground f d terminology at the site:
1. Soil anchors (70-80% of the market); 2. Rock anchors (10-20% of the market); and ( % ) 3. Marine anchors (10% of the market)

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Soil Anchors
Support retention systems in deep excavations.

Tieback of deep excavation

Retaining walls support

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Soil Anchors
Stabilise foundation slabs subjected to uplift caused by groundwater or heave.

Hold down structures subjected to hydrostatic uplift

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Soil Anchors
Preconsolidate unstable soils to increase soil bearing capacity.

Preconsolidation of soft soils

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Soil Anchors
Provide reactions for pile load tests.

Providing reactions for pile load tests

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Soil Anchors
Compensate and balance the effect of overturning forces in power transmission towers, large dams, television masts and bridge abutments.

Anchoring of footings

Anchoring of dams
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Rock Anchors:
Protect and stabilise rock formations and slopes

Stabilisation of rock slopes

http://www.waterpowermagazine.com/graphic.asp?sc=2048373&seq=2

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Rock Anchors
Support underground rock cavities in tunnelling and mine shafts, where anchors replace timber and steel supports.

Stabilisation of tunnel openings in rock

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Marine Anchors:
Protect oil jetties and coastal structures. Protect river embankments and navigation canals. Stabilise reclaimed areas Strengthen sea and fluvial facilities

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Note
Difficulties in applying the ground anchoring technique will b encountered, f t h i ill be t d for example, where the ground is not entirely suitable for load transfer from the tendon, or where aggressive materials exist but remained undetected.

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Anchorage Types
Temporary and permanent anchors; Active and passive anchors; and Method of load transfer.

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Temporary and permanent anchors;

Temporary anchors are devices of a temporary p y nature that will become useless and inoperative beyond a certain time, which is usually less than 18 months. During this period it is highly unlikely p that a corrosion process of adverse magnitude will be initiated; hence corrosion protection is not required. Permanent anchors are devices which will maintain the stability of a structure on a permanent basis. Permanent anchors must function longer than 18 months, and corrosion protection and monitoring are g mandatory.

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Active and passive anchors;

Active anchors are prestressed anchors prestressed that apply initial force to the structure thus supported, and will persist with time unless the structure undergoes displacement relative to the anchor itself. Passive anchors (also called dead dead anchors) are not prestressed and respond to loading only when the structure thus supported begins to move.
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Anchor type according to load transfer

Free zone Fixing zone e

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Anchor type according to load transfer

Type A is a straight shaft cylindrical hole of uniform diameter filled with grout. This type is suitable for rock as well as very stiff to hard cohesive soils soils. Type B is cylindrical but enlarged at the fixing length by grout injected under low pressure. In this process, the actual effective diameter of the fixing zone is increased with minimum disturbance to the surrounding soil. This type is suitable for soft fissured rock and coarse soils. Type C is similar to Type B except that the grout in the fixing zone is injected under high pressure, forcing the grout to penetrate the soil irregularly and thereby increasing the anchor resistance to the tensile forces. This type is suitable primarily for cohesionless soils. Type D is a cylindrical enlarged at one or more positions along its length by means of a special cutting device. This type is common for stiff to hard cohesive soils.
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Installation of Ground Anchors

A borehole (usually between 75 to 150 mm in diameter) is drilled, using rotary machine. If the soil is weak, use casing. The anchors are inserted into boreholes boreholes. The anchor is fixed to the ground by grout injected (under controlled) pressure from a grout pipe attached to the tendon and the casing is withdrawn.

After grouting and when the g g g grout has hardened, the , anchor is prestressing.

Finally the anchor is locked off (fixed) in the tendon head.

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Installation sequence of Type B ground anchor (after Hanna, 1982)

Centralizers are used to make the

(a)

tendon centrally l d ll located i the b h l and d in h borehole d thus ensures a uniform grout cover in the fixed length.

Spacers (Figure 6b), made of steel or plastic, are used in both the free and fixing zones to maintain anchor components parallel and in their correct alignment, and thus prevent contact friction.
(b) (a) Centralizer details; (b) Spacer details (after Xanthakos, 1991) 28

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Stability and Design of Ground Anchors

An anchor can fail or become inoperatable in one of the g (Xanthakos, following modes ( 1991): 1. By bond failure (slippage) at the tendon-grout interface. 2. By shear failure along the contact surface of the grout and ground. 3. By failure within soil or rock supporting the anchorage. 4. By structural failure (rupture or sectioning) of th steel t d ti i ) f the t l tendon. 5. By crushing of the grout column around the tendon. 6. By displacement or excessive slippage of the anchor head. In reality, it is unlikely that all the previous modes of failure will occur simultaneously, hence, y usual anchor practice is to design the anchor based on potential failure modes (usually failure modes 1 to 4) under an appropriate factor of safety, consistent with the actual known strength or the associated degree of risk. The design of g g ground anchors requires the calculation of the following items: Angle of anchor inclination Fixing anchor length; and Free anchor length.
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Angle of Inclination
The inclination angle of anchors has a more favourable effect if the structures are founded on a substratum with a lower angle of f i ti l l f friction. The optimum angle of inclination should be chosen so that the minimum anchoring force is obtained.
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12 Anchoring forc (MN) ce

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= 28.8o = 33o

= 36.9o = 38.7o
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Angle of inclination

Effect of angle of inclination on anchoring force for different friction angles

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Angle of Inclination
In cases where the stability against sliding and overturning is required (e.g. dams), the optimum angle of inclination for securing the structure against sliding does not usually coincide with that for protection against overturning. In such cases, the angle of inclination should be chosen to secure both cases. For example, if securing the structure against sliding will require larger prestressing force than that required to prevent overturing, the angle of inclination is thus the one that is governed by the safety against sliding.

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Fixing Length for Type (A) Anchors

The fixing length, L, can be calculated by fulfilling the following two equations (assuming uniform distribution of bond stresses along the fixing length):
FS soil grout = Ld 2 sg P
nLd1tg P

and

FStendon grout =

where, , FS = factor of safety (usually between 2 to 3); n = number of anchors (in case of more than one anchor in a borehole); d1 = diameter of anchor (diameter of strands number of strands); = diameter of borehole; d2 sg = bond strength between the grout and surrounding soil; tg = bond strength between the anchor (or tendon) and grout; and P = anchoring force. To achie e stability, the greater length from the abo e eq ations sho ld be achieve stabilit above equations should used.
sg Grout d2 tg d1 Anchor

Fixing length, L

Determination of fixing anchor length

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Fixing Length for Type (B) Anchors

The fixing length, L, that accounts for FS between the tendon and grout can be calculated as in Type (A) anchors, and L that accounts for FS between the soil and grout is calculated as follows:

FS soil grout =

LD1 sg +

2 2 ( D1 D2 )q 4 P

where, D1 = enlarged diameter of grout; D2 = diameter of borehole; sg = bond strength between soil and grout; and q = bearing capacity resistance between soil and grout.
sg Grout D1 q L tg

D2

Anchor

d1

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Fixing Length for Type (D) Anchors

As before, L that accounts for FS between the tendon and grout can be calculated as in Type (A) anchors, and L that accounts for FS between the soil and grout is calculated from L1 and L2 as follows: 2 2 L1D1 s + L2 D2 sg + ( D1 D2 ) q 4 FS soil grout = g P where, D1 = under-ream diameter of the borehole machine (auger); D2 = shaft diameter of the borehole machine; L1 = under-ream length; L2 = shaft length (should be known for certain augers); and s = shear strength of soil;
s D1 tg q L1 L L2 q

sg

D2

d1

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Notes:
All bond and shear strength (i.e., tg,, sg,, s,,q ) are obtained from experimental tests. Bond on grout strength of 30 MPa tg = 1.0MPa for plain wire & bar tendons = 2.0 MPa for strands & deformed bars sg = 10% unconfined compressive strength of rocks = (0.6 1)Su for still Clays FS 2.0 for temporary work < 6 months 2.5 for temporary work between 6 to 18 months 3.0 for permanent work 30 Working stress Permanent anchors = 50% ultimate Temporary anchors = 65% ultimate
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Free Anchor Length

As mentioned previously, the free anchor length is the distance between the anchor head and beginning of fixing length. It is recommended that the fixing anchor length starts some distance x beyond the most critical slip surface.

Definition of free anchor length

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References
Hanna, T. H. (1982). Foundations in tension: grounds anchors, Trans Tech Publications, Clausthal, Germany. Clausthal Germany Xanthakos, P. P. (1991). Ground anchors and anchored structures, John Wiley & Sons, N. Y.

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Revision: Stability of Anchored Structures with Prestressing

Rock Anchor
l W T rock = density of rock ' = angle of friction c' = cohesion factor of rock

Disturbing force: Resisting force: Factor of safety against sliding = Resisting force Disturbing force
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Revision: Stability of Anchored Structures with Prestressing

Slope Stability (without tension crack and no surcharge load)
l W T

h Disturbing force: Resisting force:

Factor of safety against sliding =

Resisting force Disturbing force

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Revision: Stability of Anchored Structures with Prestressing

Slope Stability (with tension crack and no surcharge load)
l W T

h Disturbing force: Resisting force:

Factor of safety against sliding =

Resisting force Disturbing force

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Revision: Stability of Anchored Structures with Prestressing

Slope Stability (with surcharge load)
l

h Disturbing force: Resisting force:

Factor of safety against sliding =

Resisting force Disturbing force

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Revision: Stability of a dam with vertical prestressing

= angle of friction h i c = cohesion ca = adhesion h W l T o

Factor of safety against sliding:

Factor of safety against overturning:

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Revision: Stability of a dam with diagonal prestressing

waterlevel = angle of friction c = cohesion h i ca = adhesion h W l T Factor of safety against sliding: o

Factor of safety against overturning:

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Revision: Stability of a retaining wall with tendon anchor

Groundandwaterlevel Groundandwaterlevel h1 o Wc1 Wc2 h2 T = angle of friction c = cohesion h i ca = adhesion

Factor of safety against sliding:

Factor of safety against overturning:

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