Earth Anchor Loading and Capacity for Temporary Structures Under Wind Load

Abstract

Ground anchors have been used in construction for decades to provide tethering and uplift support to many types of construction and utility operations. Many of the current techniques to evaluate pull out capacity of anchors involves complicated numerical modeling and extensive laboratory testing that would not be utilized in many instances of deployment due to costs and time constraints. An inflatable aircraft shelter was instrumented for monitoring analysis on how the structure distributes wind loads to its foundation anchoring system. A wind event of 36 mph presented the best case for establishing wind effects on the anchor system. Four candidate anchor types representing industry standards such as spread earth and single helix anchors were evaluated alongside two novel proprietary helical anchors by a Quick Pull-Out method and evaluated according to a suitable testing matrix in three varying soil sites. Two anchors emerged as ideal anchors for the inflatable shelter, a multi-helix screw type anchor and a single helix helical anchor.