| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 304468 | Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering | 2012 | 13 Pages |
Local gas pipelines provide a valuable resource to urban areas and are often forced to cover unfavourable ground conditions in order to form a serviceable network. This can force pipelines through soil, which is subjected to permanent ground displacements due to faulting and strong vibrations due to earthquakes. Due to the inseparability of faulting from earthquakes it is pertinent to examine the combined effect of dynamic vibration and shear deformation of the surrounding soil on buried pipelines and a better understanding of the factors affecting pipe response to these inputs will enable more intelligent design of future pipe networks with the intention of reducing damage inflicted on pipes in extreme events. To advance understanding of this topic, a series of model experiments were performed under 1 g conditions on instrumented 20 mm diameter acrylic prototype pipes buried in dry Toyoura sand as well as a tyre derived aggregate (TDA) backfill trench surrounded by Toyoura sand crossing a vertical fault. The apparatus setup allowed faulting and dynamic input to be applied simultaneously to the model, which revealed that the simultaneous loading reduces the bending of a pipe and that installation of a pipe in a tyre derived aggregate backfill reduces the bending moment experienced by the pipe by up to 74% for small fault displacement and low levels of acceleration.
► Model pipelines subjected to simultaneous vertical faulting and strong ground motion ► The effect of installation in sand and a Tyre Derived Aggregate trench is compared ► Installation in a TDA trench can reduce the bending moments in the buried pipe ► Intensity of shaking has little influence on the size of bending moments generated. ► The magnitude of bending moment is directly affected by the fault displacement.
