Numerical analysis of bearing capacity of winged helical anchor in clayed soil

Abstract Adding wings is an effective method to improve the lateral bearing capacity of helical anchor to meet the requirement of combined loading. However, the study on winged helical anchors is scarce. Therefore, this paper used numerical method to investigate the lateral and vertical bearing capa...

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Main Authors: Dongxue Hao, Yuhang Zhang, Yingzhu Chen, Rong Chen, Gangqiang Kong, Ke Wu, Yan Han
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-05-01
Series:Scientific Reports
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00571-9
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author Dongxue Hao
Yuhang Zhang
Yingzhu Chen
Rong Chen
Gangqiang Kong
Ke Wu
Yan Han
author_facet Dongxue Hao
Yuhang Zhang
Yingzhu Chen
Rong Chen
Gangqiang Kong
Ke Wu
Yan Han
author_sort Dongxue Hao
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Adding wings is an effective method to improve the lateral bearing capacity of helical anchor to meet the requirement of combined loading. However, the study on winged helical anchors is scarce. Therefore, this paper used numerical method to investigate the lateral and vertical bearing capacities and failure modes of winged helical anchors in mixed soil (cohesive material with internal friction). The addition of wings at the top of the helical anchor enhances the ultimate lateral capacity (ULC) significantly when ULC is controlled by displacement of 10% helix diameter, which increases with the height and width of wings. But the effect of wing height is limited, once the height exceeds the maximum soil mobilization depth induced by wing or shaft under lateral loading, the ULC essentially stops increasing. As the relative wing width B/D increases, although the increase rate in ULC gradually slows down, obvious increase is still observed at B/D = 1.5. The ULC reaches 4 times that of a wingless helical anchor for the case of helical anchor with relative wing height h/D of 2 and width B/D of 1.5. The calculation method of ULC is proposed combining the analysis of displacement field at failure, and the safety factors for design are also suggested. The vertical tensile and compressive bearing capacities of wingless anchor are similar when installations are not considered. Each helix with a spacing greater than 1.53D exhibits an independent failure mode when using 0.1D as the failure criterion. And Terzaghi’s formula for the bearing capacity of circular foundations can effectively estimate the ultimate vertical bearing capacity of helical plates. The ultimate end resistance q cu of the wings decreases logarithmically with increasing aspect ratio of wing base B/t. The Meyerhof’s bearing capacity factors for deep strip foundations are recommended to calculate q cu of wings with B/t no less than 15. This study can provide reference for design engineers to estimate the lateral and vertical bearing capacities of winged helical anchors.
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spelling doaj-art-2ef7b6cfbf98439382d3e9e0946b36792025-08-20T03:10:14ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-05-0115111910.1038/s41598-025-00571-9Numerical analysis of bearing capacity of winged helical anchor in clayed soilDongxue Hao0Yuhang Zhang1Yingzhu Chen2Rong Chen3Gangqiang Kong4Ke Wu5Yan Han6School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Northeast Electric Power UniversitySchool of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Northeast Electric Power UniversitySchool of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Northeast Electric Power UniversitySchool of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Northeast Electric Power UniversityKey Laboratory of Geomechanics and Embankment Engineering, Ministry of Education, Hohai UniversitySchool of Civil Engineering, Shandong UniversitySchool of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Northeast Electric Power UniversityAbstract Adding wings is an effective method to improve the lateral bearing capacity of helical anchor to meet the requirement of combined loading. However, the study on winged helical anchors is scarce. Therefore, this paper used numerical method to investigate the lateral and vertical bearing capacities and failure modes of winged helical anchors in mixed soil (cohesive material with internal friction). The addition of wings at the top of the helical anchor enhances the ultimate lateral capacity (ULC) significantly when ULC is controlled by displacement of 10% helix diameter, which increases with the height and width of wings. But the effect of wing height is limited, once the height exceeds the maximum soil mobilization depth induced by wing or shaft under lateral loading, the ULC essentially stops increasing. As the relative wing width B/D increases, although the increase rate in ULC gradually slows down, obvious increase is still observed at B/D = 1.5. The ULC reaches 4 times that of a wingless helical anchor for the case of helical anchor with relative wing height h/D of 2 and width B/D of 1.5. The calculation method of ULC is proposed combining the analysis of displacement field at failure, and the safety factors for design are also suggested. The vertical tensile and compressive bearing capacities of wingless anchor are similar when installations are not considered. Each helix with a spacing greater than 1.53D exhibits an independent failure mode when using 0.1D as the failure criterion. And Terzaghi’s formula for the bearing capacity of circular foundations can effectively estimate the ultimate vertical bearing capacity of helical plates. The ultimate end resistance q cu of the wings decreases logarithmically with increasing aspect ratio of wing base B/t. The Meyerhof’s bearing capacity factors for deep strip foundations are recommended to calculate q cu of wings with B/t no less than 15. This study can provide reference for design engineers to estimate the lateral and vertical bearing capacities of winged helical anchors.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00571-9Winged helical anchorsLateral bearing capacityVertical bearing capacityMixed soil
spellingShingle Dongxue Hao
Yuhang Zhang
Yingzhu Chen
Rong Chen
Gangqiang Kong
Ke Wu
Yan Han
Numerical analysis of bearing capacity of winged helical anchor in clayed soil
Scientific Reports
Winged helical anchors
Lateral bearing capacity
Vertical bearing capacity
Mixed soil
title Numerical analysis of bearing capacity of winged helical anchor in clayed soil
title_full Numerical analysis of bearing capacity of winged helical anchor in clayed soil
title_fullStr Numerical analysis of bearing capacity of winged helical anchor in clayed soil
title_full_unstemmed Numerical analysis of bearing capacity of winged helical anchor in clayed soil
title_short Numerical analysis of bearing capacity of winged helical anchor in clayed soil
title_sort numerical analysis of bearing capacity of winged helical anchor in clayed soil
topic Winged helical anchors
Lateral bearing capacity
Vertical bearing capacity
Mixed soil
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00571-9
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AT yingzhuchen numericalanalysisofbearingcapacityofwingedhelicalanchorinclayedsoil
AT rongchen numericalanalysisofbearingcapacityofwingedhelicalanchorinclayedsoil
AT gangqiangkong numericalanalysisofbearingcapacityofwingedhelicalanchorinclayedsoil
AT kewu numericalanalysisofbearingcapacityofwingedhelicalanchorinclayedsoil
AT yanhan numericalanalysisofbearingcapacityofwingedhelicalanchorinclayedsoil