THE PADLOCK ANCHOR - A FIXED-POINT ANCHOR SYSTEM

The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of combining propellant-activated embedment anchors and a structural frame with bearing pads to provide a fixed-point, deep ocean anchorage system. The work was to include the conception, design, fabrication, and evaluation. This report describes the resulting device, termed padlock, discusses its development, and documents the field tests and results. Essentially the padlock is a tripodal frame terminating in 6-foot-diameter bearing pads that are locked to the sea floor through activation of 20,000-pound (nominal holding power) embedment anchors, one per bearing pad. Shallow water tests demonstrated that the components are operationally compatible as a system and that the embedment anchors can be detonated singly or as a group. A limited number of tests shows the reliability of the complete system to be low, mainly because of the performance of the embedment anchors. (Author)

• Corporate Authors:

  Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory

  Port Hueneme, CA  United States 
• Authors:
  • Dantz, P A
• Publication Date: 1968-5

Media Info

• Pagination: 44 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Anchoring; Anchors (Structural connectors)
• Old TRIS Terms: Anchor holding power; Anchor structures; Embedment anchors
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00002231
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Defense Documentation Center
• Report/Paper Numbers: NCELTR577 Final Rpt.
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 30 1972 12:00AM