In order to evaluate the potential for improvement of the soil 

 anchor-projectile, a modified projectile was conceived incorporating 

 a more open configuration and a means to eliminate side-wall friction. 

 Such a design should penetrate far enough to provide adequate holding 

 capacity in all but the densest sands. Estimates of the penetration 

 depth of such a modified projectile, having the same mass and set area 

 (frontal area during pullout) as the existing projectile, are given 

 in Table A-2 along with the previously cited depths for the existing 

 projectiles. A comparison of values for the modified and existing 

 projectiles indicates a substantial potential for improvement. 



Energies furnished by the present launch vehicle are sufficient 

 to provide adequate penetrations in some seafloor soils. Though the 

 present sand projectile might perform satisfactorily in denser sands 

 if sufficient penetration could be achieved, increasing the launch 

 vehicle capacity to gain penetration depth appears impractical. 

 Instead development of improved projectile designs needs to be undertaken 

 to make optimum use of available embedment energy over a wide range 

 of seafloor conditions. 



33 



