Seismic analysis of flexible buried structures

Abstract

A simplified pseudo-static analysis method is proposed to identify the main causes of the transverse buckling of buried structures, such as culverts, which are subjected to earthquake ground motions. The proposed method is based on the case history of a 2.4-m diameter corrugated metal pipe in the Lower San Fernando Dam which failed during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. The analysis, which considered factors such as static overburden pressure, peak ground acceleration, liquefaction-induced ground displacement, pore pressure buildup, and nonlinear soil response, suggests that the pipe failure was mainly caused by the reduction in moduli of embedding soils due to pore pressure build up, without a complete liquefaction.