Numerical implementation of the installation/mooring line and application to analyzing comprehensive anchor behaviors

With the application of innovative anchor concepts and advanced technologies in deepwater moorings, anchor behaviors in the seabed are becoming more complicated and pose a great challenge to the analytical methods. In the present work, a large deformation finite element (FE) analysis employing the coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian technique is performed to simulate the installation/mooring line, and then is applied to analyzing comprehensive anchor behaviors in the seabed. By connecting cylindrical units with each other using connector elements, the installation/mooring line is constructed. With the constructed installation/mooring line, FE simulations are carried out to investigate comprehensive anchor behaviors in the seabed, including long-distance penetration of drag anchors, keying of suction embedded plate anchors and non-catastrophic behavior of gravity-installed anchors. Through comparative studies, the accuracy of the proposed method is well examined. A parametric study is also undertaken to quantify the effects of the frictional coefficient, initial embedment depth, and soil weight on the profile of the embedded anchor line and the shackle load. The present work demonstrates that the proposed FE model, which incorporates the installation/mooring line and the anchor, is effective in analyzing the comprehensive anchor behaviors in the seabed.