Mechanical behavior analysis of buried polyethylene pipe under land subsidence

Abstract

During urbanization construction, land subsidence occurred due to the environmental impact of engineering, overexploitation of groundwater or the earthquake, which caused the pipeline damage and even pipeline network failure. In order to study the mechanical behavior of buried polyethylene pipe under land subsidence, parameters in the constitutive model were obtained by a uniaxial tensile test, and then the finite element model was established. According to the finite element calculation data, laws of stress change in different positions of the pipeline were analyzed, thereby dangerous points of the pipeline under land subsidence were determined, and the deformation degree of the pipeline was characterized by defining the minimum radius of curvature and the relative deformation rate. Based on the stress failure criterion, the ultimate bearing capacity (maximum vertical displacement of the pipeline under land subsidence) and its laws of the pipeline under different parameters (transition length, land subsidence rate and pipeline strain rate) were ensured. Finally, nonlinear regression analysis was used to obtain a formula for the maximum stress as a function of the influential factors. The results could provide the reference for safety evaluation and maintenance strategy formulation under land subsidence.