Parametric study of the wave-induced residual liquefaction around an embedded pipeline

Abstract

Wave-induced liquefaction in a porous seabed around submarine pipeline may cause catastrophic consequences such as large horizontal displacements of pipelines on the seabed, sinking or floatation of buried pipelines. Most previous studies in relation to the wave and seabed interactions with embedded pipeline dealt with the wave-induced instaneous seabed response and possible resulting momentary liquefaction (where the soil is liquefied instantaneously during the passage of a wave trough), using theory of poro-elasticity. Studies for the interactions between a buried pipeline and a soil undergoing build-up of pore pressure and residual liquefaction have been comparatively rare. In this paper, this complicated process was investigated by using a new developed integrated numerical model with RANS (Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes) equations used for governing the incompressible flow in the wave field and Biot consolidation equations used for linking the solid–pore fluid interactions in a porous seabed with embedded pipeline. Regarding the wave-induced residual soil response, a two-dimensional poro-elastoplastic solution with the new definition of the source term was developed, where the pre-consolidation analysis of seabed foundation under gravitational forces including the body forces of a pipeline was incorporated. The proposed numerical model was verified with laboratory experiment to demonstrate its accuracy and effectiveness. The numerical results indicate that residual liquefaction is more likely to occur in the vicinity of the pipeline compared to that in the far-field. The inclusion of body forces of a pipeline in the pre-consolidation analysis of seabed foundation significantly affects the potential for residual liquefaction in the vicinity of the pipeline, especially for a shallow-embedded case. Parametric studies reveal that the gradients of maximum liquefaction depth with various wave and soil characteristics become steeper as pipeline burial depth decreases.