The goal of this project is to establish a comprehensive research program on deep water anchors with applications to drilling and production operations. The work has three objectives;
1) Determine currently available, best practices for analysis and design of suction cassion anchors (SCAs) and vertically loaded anchors (VLAs), including drag embedment anchors (DEAs) and suction embedded plate anchors (SEPLAs);
2) Characterize deep water environments and site investigations strategies;
3) Effect significant improvements in the accuracy and precision of installation and capacity predictions for SCAs and VLAs through studies.
The lab test was designed for bench-scale modeling and an API project was used to collect and document data from sites.
The following results were achieved: a workshop was held on suction cassion design with 35 participants, model was developed to handle more realistic loading conditions, a 3-D model was built to include combined loading and to better understand the effects of installation on capacity. This study will be used to help design future SCA and VLA guidelines for API Recommended Practices.