It creates a minimal disturbance of the soil during installation, can be tested to an exact holding capacity and made fully operational immediately. It is a completely dry system, therefore, having minimal environmental impact removing the need of drilling or grout.
Stress Distribution and Bearing Capacity
The stress distribution in front of a loaded anchor can be modelled using the Foundation Theory. The ultimate performance of an anchor within the soil is defined by the load at which the stress concentration immediately in front of the anchor exceeds the bearing capacity of the soil.
Platipus anchors perform exceptionally well in a granular/non-cohesive soil, displaying short load lock and extension characteristics, a broad frustum of soil immediately in front of the anchor and extremely high loads.
Stiff cohesive soils, such as boulder clays, can also give outstanding results. However, weaker cohesive soils, like soft alluvial clays, can result in long load lock and extension distances and a small frustum of soil in front of the anchor. Consequently, these conditions require a larger size of the anchor and if possible a deeper driven depth to achieve design loads.
Factors that will affect the ultimate performance of the anchor include:
