Sheet-Pile Lock Profiles With Three-Point Anchorage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sheet-pile wall components fail to withstand extremely high tensile forces due to soil pressure, leading to potential failure of lock connections.
Innovation Solution
A three-point connection design between lock profiles and anchorage components, where the lock profiles and anchorage engage in a mutually supportive configuration at least three points, distributing tensile forces evenly and preventing unintentional opening, along with a modular construction using mirror-symmetrical contours and additional anchoring elements like Z-piles to enhance stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If simple locks with oval cross-section and C-shaped claw bars are used, then the structure is easy to manufacture, but the connecting profile cannot withstand extremely high tensile forces from soil pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The lock profile and lock are designed to surround each other in a nested configuration, with the lock profile forming an outer contour and the lock forming an inner contour that interlocks at multiple points. This nesting creates a mechanically interlocked system that distributes tensile forces across multiple engagement points, significantly increasing the connection strength while maintaining manufacturability through simple curved bar geometries.
Solution Approach 2:
The design transitions from a single-point or single-line connection to a multi-point areal connection. By creating engagement at至少 three distinct points around the perimeter of the lock, the system distributes forces across a two-dimensional area rather than concentrating them at a single location, thereby increasing tensile force resistance without complicating the basic bar-shaped components.
2Device complexity
If the lock profile and lock engage at only one or two points, then the connection is simple, but the tensile force concentrates at few points causing potential failure
Solution Approach 1:
The connection interface is segmented into multiple discrete engagement points distributed around the lock perimeter. Instead of a continuous or single-point contact, the lock profile and lock engage at distinct locations (at least three points), which segments the force transmission path. This segmentation prevents stress concentration at any single point and provides redundancy, as failure at one engagement point does not compromise the entire connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The multi-point engagement design inherently provides cushioning against tensile forces by distributing the load across multiple engagement points before any single point reaches its failure threshold. This prior distribution of forces prevents the concentration that would lead to sudden failure, effectively cushioning the connection against extreme loads.
Data Source
AI summary
An arrangement of sheet-pile wall components includes two sheet-pile wall sections. The ends of the two sheet-pile wall sections are arranged. Their locks are hooked into two lock profiles of a connecting profile which is hooked via a third lock profile into the lock of an anchorage. The respective other ends of the sheet-pile wall sections are secured such that each of the two sheet-pile wall sections partially encloses a region. At least one of the lock profiles and the lock of the sheet-pile wall component of the anchorage in engagement therewith are configured in such a way that the lock profile of the connecting profile and the lock in engagement therewith are hooked one inside the other and grip around one another. As viewed in cross section, they bear on one another and are supported against one another by at least three points in at least one installed position.