Development of a novel resilient anchor cable and its large shear deformation performance

Continuous and stepwise deformation of landslides occur widely during seasonal rainfall and reservoir operation. Therefore, it is important to develop resilient stabilizing structures to ensure that they continue to function even when large deformations occur. In this study, a new anchor cable with a high support and large shear deformation is proposed. The anchor cable primarily consists of free, grouting, and adaptive sections, which are connected using hinge connections. The adaptive section consists of an anchor with multiple trapezoidal gears, sleeve tube, connecting rod, and bearing balls. The adaptive section provides periodic working resistance to absorb and release energy and adapts to large deformations by continuously cutting gears with bearing balls. The working principle of the adaptive section was theoretically and experimentally analyzed. Its shear performance was compared to that of an ordinary cable under cyclic shear tests. The results indicated that: the ordinary cables broke after the first shear test; however, the new anchor cables still had high support after four shear tests (cumulative displacement: 0.8 m). Compared with ordinary cables, the new anchor cables experienced lower shear force, and provided higher working resistance with large shear displacement, because of the more uniform stress of the new anchor cable; energy was released in time under the action of the hinge connections and adaptive section.