The Ultimate Pullout Capacity (UPC) is an important index in designing and analyzing plate anchors. However, there are still uncertainties in determining the UPC through the load-displacement curves calculated from numerical analysis. The review on the existing criteria for determining the UPC also demonstrates that there has not been a generally accepted criterion and most existing criteria are not only uncertain but also irrational. Considering that there are still divergences and confusions in determining the UPC and specific studies are rare, further investigations are needed to clarify this basic but important topic before analyzing the UPC and the performance of plate anchors. The present work just emphasizes on the criterion for determining the UPC of plate anchors in clay. After a review of current studies on this topic, the maximum resistance criterion based on large deformation finite element analysis is recommended to determine the UPC of plate anchors, which accords with two rules. The first, a deterministic value of UPC can be obtained by using the criterion. The second, the criterion must be rational which means that it implies clear and right physical meaning and can be generally applied. This criterion is validated firstly by three model tests and then applied to rectangular and circular plate anchors at different embedment depths in both uniform and linear clays to calculate the bearing capacity factors.

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