The influence of member thickness, size of anchor head, and orthogonal surface reinforcement on the tensile breakout capacity of cast-in-place headed anchors in uncracked concrete was studied both numerically and experimentally. The aim of this paper is to form a background for developing improved methods for the design of new fastenings as well as the assessment of current anchorages in practice. For this purpose, anchor bolts at various embedment depths (h_ef=50–500 mm) were simulated in plain and reinforced concrete members of various thicknesses (H=1.5–5.0∙h_ef). Three different head sizes of anchor bolts (i.e. small, medium and large) were also considered at each anchor embedment depth. Furthermore, to verify the numerical findings, a series of anchor pullout tests were carried out at which the testing parameters were similar to those in the numerical study.

Numerical and experimental results show that the tensile breakout capacity of anchor bolts increases by increasing the member thickness or if surface reinforcement is present. The anchorage capacity further increases with increasing the anchor head size. The anchorage behavior becomes ductile by increasing member thickness or by having surface reinforcement, whereas it becomes stiff and more brittle by increasing the size of anchor head. To account for the influence of member thickness, size of anchor head, and orthogonal surface reinforcement on the tensile breakout capacity of headed anchors, the CC method was modified and extended by incorporating three modification factors.