Numerical investigation on novel group-drag-anchor systems for soft clay seabed

Offshore wind turbine mooring systems often encounter challenges in soft clay seabed, where traditional drag anchors frequently fail to provide sufficient bearing capacity. This study introduces several novel group-drag-anchor systems designed to surpass the performance of single anchor. This enhanc...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yancheng Yang, Yifeng Lin, Dezhi Ning
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Results in Engineering
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025024387
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Summary:Offshore wind turbine mooring systems often encounter challenges in soft clay seabed, where traditional drag anchors frequently fail to provide sufficient bearing capacity. This study introduces several novel group-drag-anchor systems designed to surpass the performance of single anchor. This enhanced performance is attributed to the increased shear strength of the clay at deeper embedment depths, thereby increasing bearing efficiency. Utilizing a validated large deformation finite element method (FEM), the effects of different linking configurations were investigated on the embedment performance and bearing efficiency of these systems. Comparative analyses reveal that the proposed group-drag-anchor systems exhibit superior embedment performance and bearing efficiency compared to traditional single anchors. The findings highlight that the strategic design of anchor linkage and anchor selection can substantially enhance the overall system performance. This work introduces a promising novel drag anchor solution for offshore wind turbine mooring systems in the soft seabeds, which outperforms both traditional single anchors and systems composed of identical drag anchors in terms of embedment depth and bearing efficiency. Furthermore, it provides valuable insights for optimizing the design and application of group-drag-anchor systems in future offshore wind projects.
ISSN:2590-1230