Performance of Buried Steel-Reinforced High-Density Polyethylene (SRHDPE) Pipes in a Shallow Cover under a Test Truck Load in a Full-Scale Field Test

Abstract

Extensive laboratory tests were conducted in the test box at the University of Kansas (KU) to measure the response of Steel-Reinforced High-Density Polyethylene (SRHDPE) pipes. The laboratory tests conducted have some limitations, for examples, on installation conditions. To provide information that can improve the understanding of the short-term and long-term behavior of the pipe, field tests were conducted. Strain gages to measure steel and plastic strains, displacement transducers to measure the changes in diameter of the pipe, pressure cells around the pipe to measure the distribution of the pressure were installed and data were collected both during the installation and loading of the pipe. In this paper, the deflection of the pipe under a test truck loading is presented. Based on the field testing on the SRHDPE pipes, it can be concluded that (1) the deflections measured under the test truck for the SRHDPE pipe were much smaller than the permissible deflection of 7.5 % according to the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) pipe and culvert specification (2007) during installation, (2) modified Iowa formula over predicted the deflection of the pipe under the applied load, and (3) the relation proposed by Masada (2000) can be used to determine ratio of the horizontal to vertical deflection of a buried SRHDPE pipe.