Evaluation of the behaviour of pipes buried in geosynthetic reinforced ground

Abstract

This paper aims to present an evaluation of the soil-geosynthetic interaction used for protection and reinforcement of a buried flexible pipe inserted in non-reinforced soils and soils reinforced with geosynthetics subjected to the application of a surface overload. Therefore, tests were carried out in models (scale 1:3.5) and numerical simulations using PLAXIS 2D program. In laboratory tests, a 200 mm diameter PVC pipe was used buried in a non-cohesive soil and different types of geosynthetics. The reinforcement used were four geogrids and a woven geotextile, with tensile stiffness varying between 34 kN/m2 and 2000 kN/m2. The results of the experimental tests showed beneficial effects regarding the insertion of the reinforcement in the massif with buried pipe. The efficiency of reinforcement depends on the type of arrangement considered and its physical and mechanical properties. Overall, the numerical simulations showed that the predicted results reproduced the patterns of the experimental results, but some significant deviations between predictions and measurements were observed.